🌻🦋It’s April and autism safety is on our minds. We have seen too many headlines lately, and, like you, we want to help. We can make a difference in 🍊Orange City! Please help us stock EVERY 🔔fire response vehicle in Orange City with Brookie’s Sensory Safety Boxes!

Our #pinwheelsforprevention initiative has raised enough funding to place Brookie’s Boxes in every single police👩‍✈️ responder vehicle in Orange City!!! Not only Brookie’s boxes…but officer & first responder training on safe autism interactions!

❤️Now, we are working on raising money for 8 more boxes for the 🔥Orange City Fire Department!

• More importantly, your generosity helps to ensure the safety and security of our precious autistic children in our community.
• Your $75 donation will purchase one Brookie’s Box.
• You will be recognized on social media and thanked.
• More importantly, your generosity helps to ensure the safety and security of our precious autistic children in our community.

🏆Donate here:

• https://gfwcorangecity.org/product-category/programs/ or
• By reaching out to VIA president Brenna Damm at 386-295-9683

What are Brookie’s Boxes?

Brookie’s boxes are sensory boxes to help first responders connect with autistic children that are carried in rescue units (both police and fire). These boxes are filled with sensory and fidget toys, communication devices, and informational cards to help improve care and provide comfort. They are meant to facilitate good communication, help extract information from individuals with autism, and help calm them in emergencies.

The post Pinwheels for Prevention 2025: Brookie’s Boxes appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

Our fellow member and club president, Kelli Marks, has made history as she won her race for Orange City Mayor last week. She won 65.19% of the vote, which is an amazing 30.38 lead.

Orange City is known for its’ amazing women from history who have served our community in days past. We are proud of Kelli for being the First Woman Mayor and for all that she does for our community.

Please join us on November 19th at 6:30pm as she is sworn in.

Wear your club t-shirt or a navy shirt, if you have one!

Volusia County Baptist Church
261 S Orange Ave
Orange City, FL 32763

The post Congratulations Kelli Marks, First Woman Mayor of Orange City! appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

On August 22nd at 9am we hosted a meet & greet at Albertus Cottage to open the garden to the public and unveil our new signage.

In attendance were:

🌼 Rose Kinane, Program and Administrative Coordinator from Florida Wildflower Foundation (grant provider)
🌼 Jonathan Shipper from Mockingbird Natives. Jonathan voluntarily designed the garden and assisted with the installation.
🌼 Our own Rakel Fairfull, graphic artist-designer! Rakel voluntarily designed the educational signage.
🌼 City council members – Fram Darms and Harold Grimm
🌼 Ashley Gay – Parks Department
🌼 VIA Orange City Woman’s Club members
🌼 Residents of our community

Photo credit to Brenna Damm, Leah Brooks, and Rakel Fairfull

Thanks to Sarah’s Specialities for providing the delicious baked goods.

The post Wildflower Garden Meet & Greet appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

🐝 We were gifted a copy of this book for our native wildflower garden library to be housed at the Orange City Library. Look for it on the shelves in the next few weeks or buy it online at Amazon.

Dr. Pamela Robbins is an award winning author who specializes in language development, and it shows! The book weaves a beautiful story, sprinkled with language that helps children learn about science and develop critical thinking skills. Highly recommend!

Visit her website for more of her books.

The post “It Was Time” by Dr. Pamela Robbins book donation appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

On August 10th a group of VIA ladies attended the 3rd annual A Night To End Hunger Gala to benefit Backpack Buddies, a local non-profit organization that provides food and other materials to students and families in need in Orange City and Volusia County. We are proud to support Backpack Buddies through various fundraisers, drives, and attending this event.

This event will be happening again next year in 2025, don’t miss it!

The post A Night to End Hunger 2024 appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

Photos courtesy of Kelli Marks, VIA president and Mayoral Candidate.

July 17th at 9am is the unveiling of the historic marker for the Betsy Ross Airport.

The Betsy Ross Airfield Memorial Sign was formally unveiled where the first Woman’s Airport was established in 1931 with a generous 160-acre donation from Dr. Frances Dickinson, member of the VIA Orange City Woman’s Club. The airfield was designated for non-combatant women pilots to have a place to train and fly in case of national emergencies. Ultimately, after Frances died in 1945 the land was parceled off, and the airfield was no more. There is an account about this in our History Book, which is available for purchase. You can also read below for more information.

First female flyers given high hopes in Orange City, Florida.

In 1931, Dr. Frances Dickinson generously presented a 160 acre tract of land on West Rhode Island Avenue to the Betsy Ross Flying Corps for the exclusive use as a women’s airport. Founded in January 1931 by pioneer aviatrix Opal Kunz, the Corps was a reserve organization of women pilots who volunteered to serve in non-combatant duty in case of national emergencies.

Dr. Dickinson had just received approval from Volusia County Commissioners to build the landing field. E.C. Nilson, director of the municipal aviation department, even offered to design the new airport. It was reported that there would be eight runways, four 1000 feet and four 1530 feet long radiating from the center of the field 200 feet wide to the corners and sides.

Mrs. Kunz proclaimed the airport was the only one in the world owned and controlled entirely by women. The field would provide a place for members to spend vacations, keep up their flying hours, host annual training courses, and in case of emergency, perform as a base for the Corps in relief work.

Then strangely, if not abruptly, the trail of the Betsy Ross Flying Corps ends. Little more is known about their actual time in Orange City or what happened to the women fliers and their organization for national defense.

Few accounts of the Betsy Ross Airport can be found after 1933. An amusing memory of Dorothy Warrensford Goodwin, in the book “Our Story of Orange City, Florida”, by the VIA Orange City Woman’s Club, describes a school class trip to see an “auto-gyro” land at the airport. Another story in the book tells of Charles Dickinson “buzzing the treetops, full beard flying, as he brought his biplane in for a ‘dust-kicker’ landing.”

Frances died in 1945, and the land was ultimately parceled off. The north half lies beneath two of Orange City’s schools. The most western extent of the east-west runway is below the adjacent television tower. The last parcel of Orange City’s former Betsy Ross Airport will soon be bustling with a new residential community. The development’s name, Compass Landing, pays tribute to the former all-women’s airfield and the remarkable women who found inspiration in its promise.

The post Betsy Ross Airfield Memorial Sign Unveiling appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

Thank you to all of you who came out, it was lovely to see all of you!

The post Summer Picnic was a blast! appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

On Saturday, June 29 members and other volunteers gathered in the morning at Albertus Cottage to plant the native wildflowers selected by Mockingbird Natives. The event was a great success and the garden is looking great! It will take a few years before the garden is fully grown and established. If you have an opportunity to stop by and check it out, we highly recommend it! You’ll be able to see a flurry of activity from our native pollinators: bees!

The post Wildflower Garden Planting Party appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

We are excited to announce that the Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman’s Club has been conditionally awarded a Viva Florida Wildflower Grant to establish a native wildflower demonstration garden at the historic Albertus cottage.

The Viva Florida Landscape Demonstration Garden grants bring native beauty to parks, nature centers and other public spaces. These grants provide funds with which to purchase Florida native wildflowers and plants for public projects that showcase the beauty and ecological function of Florida’s native wildflowers and plants.

The goal of the Viva Florida program is to educate the public about the role of native plants in supporting native pollinators and providing wildlife habitat. The gardens will serve as demonstrations of how native wildflowers and plants can be used in home and public landscapes. The wildflower garden at the Albertus cottage will feature colorful native plants, benches for relaxing and nature watching, and educational signage. Planned future events include nature walks, plant swaps, and seed give-aways. The garden will primarily be used to inform and educate the public, while supporting native flora and fauna. Pictured below are some of the flowers we are planning to use in the garden: Purple Coneflower, Florida Teabush and Lakeside Sunflower.

We are grateful to the Florida Wildlife Foundation for this generous grant and for Mockingbird Natives Nursery for their generous donation of the landscape design, as well as assistance in planting and education activities. In addition, we wish to sincerely thank the Parks and Recreation Department of Orange City, FL, for their support and assistance. They will be providing ongoing assistance with maintenance, support, and are donating the educational signage and pine tree mulching. Without their support, this would not be possible.

Related Links

Event: June 29th Planting Party
Website: Garden Smarter: Educational Scholarships
Blog: Garden Smarter: Florida Gardening Blog

The post Florida Wildflower Grant appeared first on Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club.

✳️APRIL IS NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH✳️

💙🩶 VIA Orange City Woman’s Club planted the pinwheel garden at Dickinson Memorial Park in Orange City 🍊 for Child Abuse and Domestic Violence prevention!!! 🩶

The campaign included options for individuals and businesses to donate and show their support.

An individual could purchase a pinwheel at $1 a piece or a business could purchase a $50 sponsorship for a garden of pinwheels with sign in front of your business, showing your local support for the program.

Several parks in addition to Dickinson Park were planted with pinwheel gardens as well.

Thank you everyone for your support and we hope that you will join us again next year to raise money for The Beacon Center.

Company Sponsorships

Photo Gallery

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