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For our Director's blog about gardening Click Here.
Master Gardener training, sponsored by Ohio State University Extension, consists of 50 hours of intensive training, and newly trained recruits volunteer at least fifty hours of service (such as at Kingwood Center!) to acquire the Master Gardener designation. For information contact OSU Extension in Richland County at 419-747-8755.
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Annual Report, 2014
For the last six years Kingwood has been on a new trajectory. We understand that our future depends on more income diversity, and a more market oriented approach to offering Mr. King’s estate, a place where the joys, appreciation and knowledge of gardens, gardening and associated interests can be cultivated. We need to earn and raise more money to support our mission while making more efficient and targeted use of the resources we have. We have made steady progress on all counts, but 2014 brought some vital advances.
Our earned income rose 11% over 2013 to $264,051; our endowment income increased by 6% to $750,000, but our contributions and grants increased by 1,780% to $610,635!
With the generous gifts we have initiated some vital planning. Terra Design Studios of Pittsburgh has assembled a team of advisors to guide Kingwood through a master planning process that should prove vital in guiding us along our new path of providing better more profound experiences for our visitors while bolstering the long-term viability of Kingwood Center. The planning is expected to be completed in July of 2015.
Our operating expenses for 2014 were $1,014,896 which was comfortably below the $1,020,005 budget. Capital and special operating expenses took initial advantage of some restricted gifts to venture $9,343 over budget and spend $81,593. Our net operating assets increased from $164,951 in 2013 to $758,193 at the end of 2014.
We were very saddened by the death of long time Kingwood employee, Charles Applegate. Charles was the embodiment of Kingwood horticulture. As Charles continued working through his seventies and into his eighties others gradually assumed responsibility for his daily duties, but it is hard to imagine anyone replacing his infectious love of gardening.
Our fourth Great Pumpkin Glow was a smash hit. Expanded to two days the event attracted almost 7,000 visitors and earned Kingwood Center over $24,000. It was a maximum effort of every resource we could garner from staff to volunteers to hired policemen to cooperative Mansfield School administrators, to contributors and sponsors and on and on.
We are very grateful to all of our supporters, but special mention should be made of those who have given us $1,000 or more over the past year.
DONATIONS:
James R. Borden: $463,261
James and Johanna Bodiford: $100,000
Michael McKinley: $5,000
Ohio Daylily Society: $2,500 for the Applegate Memorial Fund
William B. Sharp & the Sharp Family Foundation: $2,000
Therm-O-Disc: $1,000
GRANTS:
Richland County Foundation Designated Funds:
Rex E. & Marjorie Sue Collins Fund: $2,204
William & Katherine Jane McCarrick Fund: $3,129
Rowland & Delight Patricia Poth Fund: $8,516
Sara & Eugene Goin Donor Advised Fund: $3,000
Kingwood Center Fund: $15,000
Fran & Warren Rupp Donor Advised Fund: $6,300 for a summer and a winter intern
Marian Bonte Fund of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay: $1,074
Corporate Sponsorships:
Med Central Hospital: $1,500 for our Kingwood 5K Run
Century Link: $2,500 for the Great Pumpkin Glow
MEMBERSHIPS @ the $1,000 level:
Ephraim Bacquet
John & Mimi Fernyak
Tom & Lola Riester
Dan & Sue Phallen
Nancy Porter
Richard & Helen Taylor
Robert and Sandra Baxter
Built in 1926 for Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kelley King, the 47-acre estate opened as a public garden in 1953, one year after Mr. King's death. Mr. King, who was married and divorced twice, never had children. He left most of his estate to the private foundation that continues to operate Kingwood Center today. Mr. King made his fortune in Mansfield, Ohio working with the Ohio Brass Company. Hired as the company's first electrical engineer in 1893, he led Ohio Brass into new ventures, particularly the manufacture of electrical fittings for railroads and trolleys. Mr. King eventually became President and Chairman of the Board of Ohio Brass.
The King home was designed by prominent Cleveland architect Clarence Mack, who made a career of building fashionable homes in Lakewood and Shaker Heights, Ohio and in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Displaced by the Great Depression, Mack began a second successful career in 1935 designing residences in and around Palm Beach, Florida. Today the King home is used, as Mr. King directed, to house a horticultural library and the administrative offices of Kingwood Center. Much of the main floor, however, is on display in a manner similar to its original arrangement with many of Mr. King's furnishings.
Thank you for your interest in Kingwood Center Gardens!
Current openings:
Gardener
Kingwood Center Gardens is currently in search for gardener passionate about plants to join our team. This position will be critical to helping transform our gardens as we enter construction on the new Garden Gateway project as well as continue to improve existing gardens here at Kingwood Center Gardens. If you have a passion for creating beautiful gardens to educate and inspire, this job may be for you.
This position reports to the Head Gardener. It is a position of skill, knowledge, responsibility, and self-initiative. Kingwood Center is an important community and professional source of plant and garden expertise. The Gardener is expected to be a significant contributor to that expertise. The Gardener will be assigned gardens that are to be developed and maintained by the Gardener. The overarching purpose of every garden will be to contribute to the mission of Kingwood Center to advance the knowledge and appreciation of gardening. The Gardener will contribute to the achievement of this mission not only through gardening but also by sharing their gardening knowledge through an assortment of means such as writing, making presentations, hands-on teaching, and so forth. Over time the Gardener should be able to present each of the gardens under their care as an example of their gardening skill and creativity.
The Gardener will also work as deemed necessary with other staff on other gardening projects outside the specific gardens assigned to them. This work may include large installation projects such as new gardens or the annual plantings of bulbs and annuals. It may also include assisting with other Kingwood Center activities such as special events or just the basic operation of Kingwood Center.
Responsibilities:
- Operate equipment, utilize tools, and perform heavy manual labor in all sorts of weather to bring each their gardens to the standards expected.
- Ability to regularly and repeatedly lift 35 pounds and the ability to occasionally lift up to 50 pounds is expected.
- Demonstrate initiative in plant selection, acquisition, installation and care in a manner consistent with expectations for their gardens. The Gardener is also expected to take the initiative in such gardening practices as weeding, pruning, mulching, irrigation, soil amendments, design, and pesticide applications while following guidelines and standards established by the supervisor and the institution in general.
- The Gardener is expected to continue to build and advance their gardening knowledge.
- The Gardener is expected to be open and free with the sharing of their skill and knowledge not only through formal Kingwood Center programming but during their daily work.
- Able to work independently while being productive and making efficient use of their time.
- The Gardener is expected to be constantly evaluating their gardens for means of improving them through better design, the addition or subtraction of plants, better cultural care, the addition of non-plant features and etc.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
- Formal education in horticulture (or equivalent experience) on which they have continued to build and expand their knowledge.
- They should have advanced knowledge of plants, gardens, and gardening practices.
- They should be sufficiently physically fit to perform heavy garden labor in all types of weather.
- They should be eager to create and develop gardens while never being satisfied that improvements cannot be made.
- They should have communication skills sufficient to perform their role in advancing the mission of Kingwood Center. These may include writing, public speaking, and hands-on instruction.
- They should be personable and easy to work with so they may work effectively with other staff and with volunteers.
To apply email resume to:
Mark Hoover, Head Gardener
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Visitors Services Support Staff Position
Seeking an outgoing, energetic individual to assist our visitors. This position will work with admissions and ticketing, event setups, and security. A flexible work schedule, ability to work weekends and outdoors, as well as the ability to lift up to 25 lbs. are required for this position.
$9.00 an hour. Part time, approx. 24 hours a week from now until the end of Dec.
*Please note that applications are only accepted for currently advertised job openings and all applications will be kept on record for 90 days.