P. Buckley Moss e-newsletter

Dear Friends:

After 25 years of wonderful memories that I will cherish forever, my beloved Museum in Waynesboro, Virginia, has closed. Friends came in droves from near and far last weekend for our last “hurrah.” Many went downtown for a sneak-peek of our new gallery building at 329 West Main Street, which will open sometime next month. The new gallery will keep the Museum’s phone number of 540-949-6473. It’s a beautiful, old, historic, brick building that has been part of Waynesboro for at least 100 years.

My July Museum Show and Barn Open House was also a celebration of 25 wonderful years at my Museum. As the Museum closes, we are opening two new galleries, one at 223 Gilbert Street in Blacksburg, VA, (two blocks behind the Moss Arts Center) and the other in downtown Waynesboro at 329 West Main Street.

My namesake daylily, which has thrived on the Museum grounds, will be transplanted to the Barn, along with the Matteo Lo Greco statue we affectionately call “Theresa Thunder Thighs.” The real name of the statue is Una Balerina. Stuart and Diane Kendig of Perfect Perennials in York, Pennsylvania, are the developers of the P. Buckley Moss Daylily.

The Memorial Walkway at the Museum. Commemorative bricks in the Walkway will be relocated to a new memorial patio and walkway at my Barn.

The weekend’s events were kicked off last Thursday evening with the unveiling of the show print at CrossKeys Vineyards in Mt. Crawford, Virginia. The CrossKeys family and staff are such gracious hosts, and the view is breathtaking. It was a beautiful evening, and I very much enjoyed meeting so many people from the surrounding area. The print, which is a depiction of CrossKeys Vineyards, is available through the Moss dealer network; P. Buckley Moss Galleries, Ltd; and the vineyard.

Gary Mitchell and his family, of Elkton, VA, attended the unveiling and reception at CrossKeys Vineyards Thursday evening. In the background is one of the framed prints. Their son and daughter-in-law were married there last winter and have asked me to add a bride and groom in the orchard on their print.

It was a joy to have so many members of my family with me at CrossKeys Vineyards. Standing, L. to R.: my daughters Becky & Ginny, my son John, me, my son Chris, my daughter Patty, and John’s wife Maureen. Kneeling, L. to R.: Ginny’s husband Corrado and their son Picco.

The Lord blessed us with gorgeous weather and a glorious full moon, which we especially enjoyed Saturday night on the back porch of the Museum during our fundraising dinner for the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education. The Foundation office, currently located on the Museum grounds, will be moving to a new location at 108 S. Wayne Avenue in Waynesboro and will retain its phone number of 540-932-1728. The Foundation office is scheduled to open at its new location on August 4.

I very much enjoyed the Foundation fundraiser on the back porch of the Museum Saturday evening.

Enjoying the evening with my friends Mary Jo Hopkins (left) and Pat Byrd (right). Mary Jo and Pat have been friends forever and have been with us at Barn Shows from the beginning.

We had live and silent auctions, music provided by guitarist and soloist Larry Ragland, and a BBQ dinner catered by Hank’s Smokehouse Southern Grillery. We raised around $4,000 for the Foundation, which will help support scholarships for students and grants for teachers.

Standing, L. to R.: Sandy Moore, my son Chris, and Brenda Simmons. Sandy Moore is the Foundation’s new President of the Board of Directors. The Foundation’s office manager, Pat Carter, will retire at the end of July, and current office assistant Brenda Simmons will be assuming her duties. Sandy, who is also a member of the Central Iowa Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society , and my son Chris served as auctioneers for the live auction Saturday night.

This week we’ve started moving things from the Museum to the new downtown gallery. Among the first things to go are Corrado’s framing equipment and supplies. We’re all working with him to get that set up. The new gallery is scheduled to open in August, and our first show will be in conjunction with my Barn Open House, October 10-12, which will also coincide with Waynesboro’s annual Fall Foliage Festival. We’re all looking forward to that and to being downtown in the heart of the festival.

Love,
Pat

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