On Sunday, May 21st, 2000, eight members of the Chiltern Mountain Club visited the Kinney Azalea Gardens in Kingston, Rhode Island.  The gardens were started in 1927 by Lorenzo F. Kinney, Sr. the first professor of botany at the then Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, and continued by his son, after his retirement as State Leader of 4-H Clubs in Rhode Island in 1955.  This second career, begun in 1956, let him pursue his hobby of developing varieties of azaleas which would be hardy in Rhode Island.  Over the years, Mr. Kinney, with help from many high school and college students, planted 500 varieties of azaleas in the gardens.  The house and gardens are now in the care of the third generation of the family.  Click on photo to enlarge.