By Rachel Haynie Photo by Rachel Haynie

A long–time member of the Columbia Garden Club, Caroline Matthews is checking the flowerbeds on the mansion grounds to see what will be available to go in fresh arrangements for Saturday night’s gala. Matthews arranges flowers at the mansion throughout the year.

Caroline Matthews and fellow members of the Columbia Garden Club are creating centerpieces for all 158 of the tables around which guests will dine Saturday night. The event is a fundraiser sponsored by the Governor’s Mansion Foundation and the nonprofit Governor’s Mansion Foundation to celebrate the mansion’s 150th anniversary.

Matthews’ investment in the success of the event is threefold. She is the only Columbian serving on the commission, and she is chairing the comprehensive event. She is considered the flower lady of the mansion.

“We have a close relationship with the mansion,” said the master gardener who, with her fellow club members, decorates the mansion for Christmas each year. “When the garden club realized there wasn’t budget to have flowers in the mansion all the time, we thought this was a contribution we could make. We felt it important to our state for there to be fresh, natural arrangements there all the time. I volunteered,” said Matthews.

For several years since Matthews took on the task of arranging flowers to be placed in the mansion, she has come to know the plantings on the mansion grounds like she knows her own yard. The flowerbeds are where she goes to clip her greenery.

She is so familiar with containers available in the mansion, she knows immediately what style of arrangements can be showcased in them. She works with whatever is green or blooming at the time, then incorporates fresh flowers, some from the complex’s greenhouse, with special things purchased, sparingly.

Centerpieces will be based upon native greenery from the grounds, “Then we will probably use roses; it’s such a special occasion,” said Matthews.

Matthews noted there had not been an occasion such as this at the mansion in many years.

The sold–out Saturday night event will begin with a reception in the mansion, dining under white tents, and dancing around the terrace. Near the close of the gala, dessert and coffee will be served at the Lace House. The event celebrates the 150th anniversary of the mansion and the recent restoration of both houses.