One Giant Leap

The Goal: Find a unique design element to create special distinction on The Country Club of Virginia property.

by C&RB Staff (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
April 2008
 

One Giant Leap The Goal: Find a unique design element to create special distinction on The Country Club of Virginia property. The Plan: Procure an 800-lb. granite frog and use it as the centerpiece for a garden that is surrounded by benches. The Payoff: The frog has created a great buzz and drawn crowds of all generations, and now serves as a central community gathering point at the club.

After club managers at The Country Club of Virginia in Richmond decided something more needed to be done with a central piece of the property marked by two thirty-foot oak trees but was otherwise mundane, with little surrounding grass, they turned to Becky White, the club’s Horticulturist and Grounds Department Manager, and gave her both an opportunity and a challenge: Turn the space into a more welcoming seating area.

An 800-lb. granite frog—unofficially named “William” for the club GM— now invites members of all ages to enjoy a new garden filled with aromatic flowers and shrubs at The Country Club of Virginia. William is always happy to provide a sturdy back for anyone who might want a ride, and often dresses specially according to the holiday or season.

White immediately thought that the space would be perfect for a garden where members could sit and enjoy the surrounding vista and aromatic flowers and shrubs she would plant. At the same time, the area had the potential to become a popular space for younger members to enjoy while waiting to be picked up by their parents.

But just another garden wouldn’t be enough, no matter how nice it could become. White and other managers brainstormed to come up with something that could be part of the new garden and set it apart—something kid-friendly but sturdy, and something that everyone would come to know and refer to as a distinguishing feature of the property.

And that’s how “I’ll meet you at the frog” became standard jargon among club members and staff.

“The area was the perfect spot to incorporate something that would be fun and different,” says White. “The idea of a frog seemed to be both kid-friendly and still stylish.” So a frog sculpture, weighing in at 800 pounds, was carved locally from grey granite, to become a permanent, and unmoveable, resident of the new garden—and the club.

“He is unofficially named, but a lot of us refer to him as ‘William,’ in honor of our General Manager, William C. Harris,” White says. “He sits in the middle of the garden, and is surrounded by four curved teak benches.”

William the Frog has already become more than just a garden accessory at the club; it is now part of its identity and lore. William celebrates all holidays, getting adorned with a crown for Halloween and wearing festive garlands for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter (see photo at left).

And, according to White, not only children—but also parents, grandparents, brides, and cats—have been spotted sitting on top of William at various times. “He has truly become the buzz,” she says. “He’s now part of the family here.”

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