Beth Newburn doesn’t like being within the limelight.
“The glare hurts my eyes,” she mentioned Sunday.
However because the focal point, Newburn was gracious, articulate and composed when she accepted a duplicate of the brand new guide devoted to her throughout an occasion on the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Corridor of Fame and Museum.
Anna Dangerfield and Lil Brannon, coauthors of “Hopelands Gardens and Rye Patch: The Pals’ Story,” made the presentation.
Final October, when the Pals of Hopelands and Rye Patch unveiled the guide’s cowl throughout a ceremony in Hopelands, the nonprofit group introduced that Newburn was going to be acknowledged for her contributions.
“I’m so humbled by this dedication … there may be nothing that I can respect any extra,” mentioned Newburn on Sunday. “I’ve an ideal curiosity in Aiken historical past and a ardour for these two properties that have been gifted to the Metropolis of Aiken. What number of cities have two contiguous properties which can be given to the neighborhood?”
When Newburn first discovered concerning the honor a number of months in the past, “my coronary heart was pounding, my knees have been knocking and I actually thought I used to be going to move out,” she recalled. “It was such a shock.”
Newburn is a Pals trustee and a previous president of the group. She has been concerned for 30 years or so within the preservation of Hopelands and Rye Patch.
In a information launch issued by the Pals, Brannon described Newburn as “maybe” the group’s “most engaged and devoted trustee.”
Dangerfield mentioned Sunday that Newburn was a “connector,” who has pulled collectively her many mates and acquaintances to maneuver ahead initiatives which have benefited Hopelands and Rye Patch.
Newburn’s efforts embrace an essential function in establishing an endowment for the Pals. She additionally has been instrumental in conserving a report of what the group has completed to enhance and preserve Hopelands and Rye Patch, which each are former Winter Colony estates.
“They’re like two items of a puzzle, an ideal match,” Newburn mentioned. “They’re not typical metropolis parks, in my guide. They’re historic.”
“Hopelands Gardens and Rye Patch: The Pals’ Story” could be bought on the Metropolis of Aiken Guests Heart and Practice Museum, Aiken Antiques & Uniques, Chilly Creek Nurseries, Folly, 3 Monkeys, Nandina, York Cottage Antiques, Safety Federal Financial institution at 1705 Whiskey Highway and the Aiken County Guests Heart.
Proceeds from the guide, which prices $40 per copy, will probably be used for the upkeep of Hopelands Gardens and Rye Patch.
For extra details about the Pals, go to hopelandsgardens.com, name 803-642-7650 or ship an electronic mail to info@hopelandsgardens.com.
Hopelands Gardens, the place the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Corridor of Fame and Museum is situated, is at 135 Dupree Place. Rye Patch is at 100 Berrie Highway.
