Recasting history

STAUNTON — If the 1920s felt a bit too modern, the English Country Dance Club didn’t show it Sunday during filming of a PBS documentary at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library.

Beneath flower-adorned hats and trying out Charleston dance steps, club members played their part for “Road Trip to History,” a series that will soon feature the most history-laden gardens of Virginia.

Worked on in the 1930s by the Garden Club of Virginia, and featuring what is touted as a one-of-a-kind “bowknot” boxwood shrub arrangement, the Presidential Library grounds were an obvious choice for the half-hour show, said Oak Tree Productions Executive Editor Wayne Bronson.

“Not only are they historic, they are beautiful,” Bronson said.

The series will feature seven gardens, including those of Monticello, Montpelier and the Pavilion Gardens of the University of Virginia.

The Presidential Library garden will get about four minutes to shine and will highlight an original tune by the Rhonda Sager Trio, of Strasburg.

“Springtime, I always love you in springtime,” Sager sang Sunday while dancers tapped toes near a garden gazebo. “I want you in springtime to be my honey man.”

Bronson plotted out his shots around the group, encouraging them to dance, before moving to a third-floor balcony for more footage.

The garden show should appear on public television in July, but will likely air for years to come, Bronson said.

“A program like this is timeless,” he said, adding that Virginians have a special connection to history and so many cities of note that a “dart throw” at a map would always turns up a winner.

Barbara Wimble, library visitors’ service manager, said the bowknot garden sets the site apart from other gardens. Composed of boxwood shrubs that wind and loop.

“Kids love the maze effect,” said William Browning, director of government relations at the library.

Also on hand Sunday was President Woodrow Wilson, played by Judd Bankert, who confessed to Bronson that warding off rain was beyond on his abilities.

Instead he snacked on a “Lorna Doone” cookie as those around sampled lemonade — in the spirit of Prohibition, after all.