12.27.2006 -  May 25, 2006

National Garden Clubs, Inc. has honored Preservation Society of Newport County CEO and Executive Director Trudy Coxe with its highest achievement award, the Award of Excellence.  Coxe will receive the award at NGC's annual convention in Orlando, Florida on Friday, May 26, 2006.

Each year, National Garden Clubs bestows its Award of Excellence on only three individuals, organizations or institutions that have made contributions of national or worldwide significance in fields related to the National Garden Club's mission and goals. 

Coxe was nominated for the award by the Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs for her lifetime of environmental advocacy in Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts and the nation.   The award reads, in part:

"As its Director, she built Save the Bay into a premier New England environmental advocacy organization.  While serving as Director of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management for the US Department of Commerce, she brought four federal marine parks under protection, launched competitive grants for innovative approaches to critical US coastal problems and collaborated with EPA to develop the first national policy for non-point pollution.  As Secretary of Environmental Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Trudy Coxe oversaw a clean-up of Boston Harbor, the acquisition of 100,000 acres of open space and the introduction of clean cars into the marketplace.  Currently, she serves as Director of the Preservation Society of Newport County, a non-profit that preserves and maintains 11 of America's most significant architectural treasures, their historic landscapes and the Green Animals Topiary Garden." 

National Garden Clubs, Inc. (www.gardenclub.org) provides education, resources and national networking opportunities for its members to promote the love of gardening, floral design, civic and environmental responsibility.  Founded in 1929, it is the largest volunteer gardening organization in the world, with 8,488 clubs and more than 264,000 members.

The Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island (www.newportmansions.org) is a non-profit educational organization accredited by the American Association of Museums and dedicated to preserving and interpreting the area's historic architecture, landscapes and decorative arts.  Its 11 historic properties—seven of them National Historic Landmarks—span more than 250 years of American architectural and social development.