The winners of the Blooming Forever Achievement Awards will be published in our Hall of Fame.
Blooming Forever 2007 Achievement Award Event.  |
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"It couldn't be better" said the Blooming Forever Achievement Award 2007 winner, Mrs Luella Gross Goldberg after a very warm- and inspiring event.
The Blooming Forever Achievement Award, is a new Tulip cultivar that is donated by Blooming Forever to a person who has "made a difference" in his or her community, city, country or even in the world.
Each year, the awarded person will give the new Tulip its new name.
"Luella Gross Goldberg, a major talent in Minnesota and our nation" (The Star Tribune)
"A well deserved honour" (USA Today)
"A great honour for her and her equally distinguished husband, the surgeon Dr. Stan Goldberg" (The Star)
In a fully packed and beautiful decorated McNamara Alumni Center, in Minneapolis, Mn, a memorable Blooming Forever 2007 Achievement Award was held. Introduced by Mrs. Ellen Goldberg Luger, the Honorable Mayor of Minneapolis, Mr. R.T. Rybak expressed his admiration for the "Daughter of Minneapolis" and summarized the number of Awards Mrs. Goldberg has already won.
Mrs. Diana Chapman Walsh, President of Wellesley College memorized the great achievements of Mrs. Goldberg for higher standards of education and honored her, as well as other speakers, for her great leadership, high standards and integrity. The color purple of the Tulip, chosen by Mrs. Goldberg, represents the color of the Class of '58, when Mrs. Goldberg attended Wellesley College.
Mr. Tom McInerney, Member of the Executive Board of ING Group and Chairman and CEO of ING Americas, called "his boss" a woman of great integrity and a superb financial talent.
Mr. Gerald B. Fischer, President and CEO of The University of Minnesota Foundation compared the qualities of the new tulip (enormous growth capacities and long vase life) with the qualities of Mrs. Goldberg.
One of the highlights of the evening was a tribute to Mrs. Goldberg by four of her grandchildren: Stephanie (17), Sam(7), Robert (4) and Max (1). Max was assisted by his mother Martha Goldberg. Joshua (14) could not attend the event. As a National finalist, he was competing that day at the National History Day in Washington D.C. and was accompanied by his dad. Joshua finished in the Top 25!!
During the name giving ceremony, the Blooming Forever 2007 Achievement Award was handed over by Mr. Mark van der Poll, founder of Blooming Forever. After Mrs. Goldberg sprinkled the Champaign over the new tulip, the flower received its name by signing the Certificate that comes with the Award.
The Tulip "Lulu G" is now an official registered cultivar in The International Classified List of Tulip names, which is a 400 years old register held by the Royal Dutch Flower bulb Association.
With this registration, "Lulu G" and all the achievements of its name giver, will bloom forever. Every year "Lulu G" will be planted at the Blooming Forever Hall of Fame at the Keukenhof Show gardens in Lisse, the Netherlands. This garden is visted every year by millions of tourists from all over the world.
Mr. Osmo Vanska, the Finnish Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra, completed the evening with a beautiful performed Finnish Flowers Song on clarinet, a hymn to the beauty of the flower.
The evening came to an end with a surprise. Because of the 50th anniversary of the Class of '58 at Wellesley College, Blooming Forever symbollically handed over another new Tulip cultivar to Mrs. Goldberg and Mrs. Diana Chapman Walsh with the privilege to name that tulip to their likings in honor of next year's 50th anniversary.
On 7 March 2006 a new tulip received its name in Maryinski Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine.
This tulip cultivar is orange in color, which represents the ‘Orange Tulip Revolution’.
The tulip was named:
Victor Yushchenko
This event was organized by the founders of Blooming Forever and with this gesture we wanted to show our respect and admiration for the perseverance of Mr. Yushchenko and the people of the Ukraine, to achieve a better democracy and a better life in general.
The name giving event for the honor of Mr. Yushchenko was the first Blooming Forever Achievement Award ceremony "avant la lettre".
Blooming Forever will make this an annual event. People worldwide who have made a difference can be nominated for this Award.
The Blooming Forever Achievement Award, 2007, will be presented to Mrs. Luella Gross Goldberg. This ceremony will be held on June 11, 2007. For more information please click on this event in the Agenda (June 11).
Pictures of the June 11th ceremony can be found in this section of our website.
