Descanso Gardens Gets New Officers

New officers for the Descanso Gardens Guild were installed this month to manage and direct the facility it took over from Los Angeles County in January.

Descanso Gardens was one of the four county arboretums given the option of being handed over to the administration of local guilds or to the county’s Parks and Recreation Department because of budget cuts last year.

The county’s Department of Arboreta and Botanical Gardens has since been dissolved.

The new two-year-term guild board members are Susan Beatty, president, Tom Gilfoy, vice president, and Bob Cheesewright, Nancy Dunn, Ann Weiler, Joan Hargrove, Lyn Horstemeier and Janet McFadden.

The 30-year-old guild in the past served as an advisory board to the county but now performs full managerial and decision-making responsibilities. It is also the chief fund-raiser for the public garden.

Robinson Garden in Beverly Hills is also under a local guild. The Arboretum in Arcadia and the South Coast Botanical Garden in Palos Verdes are operated by the county parks department.