The Stanley Family
Arborcrest Gardens is located on 26 acres surrounding the home of Dr. Ronald and Cheryl Stanley. The Stanley family moved to Boone in 1976 when Dr. Stanley opened Boone Dermatology Clinic, where he still treats patients along with other providers. (Photo above: Ron & Cheryl in 1981)
Outside his profession, Dr. Stanley has a life-long love of gardening. He grew up in Talley’s Crossing, near Kernersville, N.C. — where “everyone had a garden,” he said. His grandparents, aunts and uncles all lived close to one another, and everyone grew their own vegetables for the dinner table.
According to Dr. Stanley, his father worked hard in the yard and had the "neatest lawn in Forsyth County." He added, "Dad grew the best tomatoes and strawberries. He did it right."
When Dr. Stanley was just six years old, his grandmother offered him a little spot in her garden, where he planted green peas, carrots and radishes. “Radishes were great for a little kid because they grow so fast — ready to harvest in just 30 days,” he said. “It was a miracle to me.”
Dr. Stanley continued to garden until he graduated from high school, but took a break from his hobby while he attended Duke University and then medical school at the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.
A Gardening Family
Photos: Ron, as a senior in high school in 1964, pictured with his grandmother. Ron's father, tending tomatoes in 1968. Ron with his prized pumpkins.
While a student at Duke, Ron's summers were spent working at RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem. There he met Cheryl, a student at UNC-Greensboro. They married in 1969, after Cheryl graduated and while Dr. Stanley was in his first year of medical school. They have 3 children and 8 grandchildren.