October 24th Meeting Minutes

Welcome and Call to Order

Parker thanked Hostesses – Wawa Hines, Rae Knox, Mary Mac Southerland, Liles Thompson

Parker thanked those who participated in the work day.

Parker gave a gift to Aimee and thanked her for last year and all her hard work.

  • Reading and Approval of Minutes
  • Parker announced she would like to approve the minutes from the September meeting which have been posted on the website. Ginny Keough made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted. Lindsey Sones made a second. All voted in favor.

Officer & Committee Reports

President – Parker Tekin

  • Amaryllis Project: Parker mentioned we have started collecting orders (and money) for the bulbs and encouraged everyone to participate. The last day is Friday. We only have 5 people that want to participate. Anyone can email Alden or sign up on the clipboard.
  • No update from Oakland Mausoleum Holiday Event re: which mausoleum, but if you’d like to sign up, let me know. Setup will be Nov 30/Dec 1.

Vice President – Kenrick Williams

Kendrick reported that the hostess chart was almost full

Treasurer – Margaret Warren

Parker reported for Margaret Warren the following:

  • Operating account – $9,700
  • Savings account – $7,875
  • Party account – $7,580
  • Total Cash Balance – $25,155

Thanks to all that have paid their dues.

Membership & Dues – Mary Mac Southerland

Mary Mac reported that dues increase Dec 1 and encouraged those who haven’t paid to pay. She mentioned she has the Square and can accept payment today.

Speaker

Sarah Roberts spoke about all the gardening projects going on at the History Center. She talked about the 6 foot well being dug up on the east side of the property as well as the new area for children with picnic tables by the parking garage. She talked about the plants and trees that were either being replanted, replenished or died (due to growth cycles) and the flowers in the front.

Sheffield Hale also came and spoke everything else happening at the History Center from General Patreaus coming to speak to the statue of Samuel Spencer being moved to the History Center. He encouraged us to all visit the History Center more.

Adjournment & Lunch

  • Parker thanked the hostesses again and reminded everyone that the November meeting will be a week earlier than usual due to Thanksgiving so it is onTuesday, November 14th at Amanda Tucker’s home.

September 2023 Meeting Minutes

Welcome and Call to Order

Welcome from Parker Tekin

Parker thanked and welcomed:

  • Hostesses – Leslie Neely, Sharena Hall and Elkin Alston
  • Susan Virgin and Jennifer Raulet for hosting the delightful new member luncheon in late August.
  • Kendrick Williams for the pretty New Member name tags.
  • Guerry Redmond for taking photos of the new members today for our online directory.
  • Parker welcomed the 5 new members: Abby Echols, Shannon Hill, Kellie Spalding, Alice Trahant and Allison Felton

Approval of Minutes

The April 2023 minutes were approved (Shelby Drinkard motions, 2nd from Jinny Keough, all in favor)

Announcements and Member Updates

    • No new Honorary Members this year!

    • One member  resigned this year: Marianne Craft – she had been a member since 1997
    • The Standing Committees for 2022-2023:

    • Programs (Alden Potts and Brittany Hill)

    • Membership & Dues (Mary Mac Southerland)

    • Flower Show (VP – Kendrick Williams)

    • Historian/Scrapbook (Jinny Keough)

    • Corresponding Secretary (Katie Bockstedt and Leslie Neely)

    • New Member Mentors & Luncheon (Susan Virgin and Jennifer Raulet)

    • Parliamentarian (Jackie Cushman)

    • Website (Jennifer Hill)

    • State Garden Club Liaison (Wawa Hines)

Officer Reports

Vice President – Kendrick Wiliams

An email has been sent out to all hostesses who are eligible to host a meeting in the 2024-2025 year. She mentioned that lots have already signup up to host.

Second Vice President (Speech School) – Mary Ayres Griggs (absent)

Parker Tekin reported that the Mimosa Garden at the Speech School is used almost hourly by teachers and children. The teachers eat lunch out there. They’ve installed new Teak furniture instead of the metal tables. They have an umbrella for shade. Its also used for their extended day program. They are so thankful to our members for helping replant the border bushes along the window wall last year and freshen up the containers. The landscape service helps maintain the garden. They have encouraged us to come anytime to see the Garden.

Third Vice President (Quarry Garden) – Elkin Alston

Elkin reported that the Quarry Garden had a beautiful season. The bald cypress trees had a lot of growth this year. Also, they’re working to put new signage across the Goizueta Gardens. They are excited to have Mimosa come next month and help work in the Quarry Garden.

Corresponding Secretary -Katie Bockstedt and Leslie Neely

NO REPORT

Treasurer – Margaret Warren reports

As of 9/12/23 , Mimosa balances are: Operating Account – $ 6101 Savings Account – $ 7873 Party Account – $ 7580

Total – $ 21,554

Our financial commitments are $2,000 annually to the Speech School, plus 40% of excess party proceeds; and $3,000 annually to the History Center Quarry Garden, plus 60% of excess party proceeds.

Committee Reports

Programs – Alden Potts and Brittany Hil

NO REPORT

Membership & Dues – Mary Mac Southerland

Mary Mac thanked those that had already mailed her a check for dues. She

reported that we have 15 Honorary Members that do not pay dues. She reminded everyone that dues can be paid:

    • With a check for $100 made out to Mimosa Garden Club

      • With credit card here at the meeting

      • Or check mailed to her house

      •  

Party Chairs – Amanda Tucker and Liles Thompson

Parker Tekin reported that the party this year will be May 8 at Amanda Tucker’s house

New Member Mentors & Luncheon – Susan Virgin and Jennifer Raulet

Historian – Jinny Keough

NO REPORT

Parliamentarian – Jackie Cushman

NO REPORT

Website- Jennifer Hill

Jennifer stated that passwords would be reset but to login today. She mentioned that Square functionality will be available next month to pay dues.

State Garden Club Liaison – Wawa Hines

Wawa reported that there is an art exhibit – water color paintings of endangered native GA plants by Laura Martin conveniently located currently at the Botanical Gardens. She mentioned it would be very easy to go see and that it would fulfill a requirement on our yearly report. She encouraged members to check it out after the meeting.

New Business

Parker asked for volunteers for the following projects after mentioning them and then passed around a signup sheet:

    • Amaryllis Project – beginning now. Easy to do at home. Prizes awarded!

    • Mimosa is participating in the ‘Victorian Holiday at Oakland’ event, December 2nd-3rd, 2023, by decorating a Mausoleum. From last year’s participation, they have offered a tour of the cemetery for up to 20 people. (sign up sheet passed around for volunteers.)

    • Mimosa is participating in Cathedral by Design. In doing so, we’d help decorate part of a home on a tour Jan 19-20, 2024 that benefits the Ansley School (a non-profit for homeless children in Atlanta.)

    • The Flower Show is Feb 23-25, 2024 and is required for the new members from the past two years so there will be 8 volunteers. Kendrick, the VP, will help with the new members and anyone else is welcome to join.

    • Mimosa has three spots available for new members this year. We will begin accepting proposals in January. Voting won’t begin until April 1. Parker mentioned one member already wanting to propose her friend.

    • Update on the Atlanta Speech School

Parker summarized a conversation that Sheffield Hale and Aimee Nix had earlier this summer. Sheffield was appreciative of Mimosa Garden Club’s long standing relationship and generous donations it has made in the past. They are willing to let us use the History Center for no charge, but do have to put guidelines in place for other garden clubs. He mentioned spaces can be $3200 to rent plus the cost of staff so that’s lost money, but for non-profits, they will let them use it with a discounted rate of 15% off. He assured us that nothing will change for us.

Program: Alden Potts introduced our speaker, William T. Smith.

Adjournment & Lunch: Parker thanked Bill for a great presentation.

thanked Alden and Brittany for putting together a terrific year of programs.

    • Our next meeting will be October 25th at the History Center. It is our Quarry Garden workday so bring your gloves and clippers!

May 2023 Meeting Minutes

  1. Welcome and Call to Order
    • Aimee welcomed  everyone to our last meeting of the year and thank Hostesses: Maggie Fischer, Julie Yates, Lois Yates
    • Aimee Introduced and welcomed new members: Abby Echols, Allison Felton, Shannan Hill, Alice Phillips, Kellie Holt Spalding
  1. Reading and Approval of Minutes: Aimee announced that the March and April minutes were emailed to members. The website is still down so they were not able to be posted. A motion was made to approve the March and April minutes.  They were approved. 
  1. Officer Reports
    • Vice President – Parker Tekin NO REPORT
    • Second Vice President (Speech School) – Kendrick Williams NO REPORT
    • Third Vice President (Quarry Garden) – Molly West
      • Molly reported that the Quarry Garden looks absolutely beautiful right now, as it’s a wonderful time of year. Some highlights are the golden club, an aquatic perennial planted over 30 years ago that has spread across the pond. Its unusual flowers have no petals – just a spike of yellow and white over large floating leaves. With all the rain we’ve had there are rain lilies proliferating. When we had the famous English gardener, Fergus Garrett, here for a lecture, he was completely captivated with them. Trillium, columbine, mountain laurel, native azaleas, sweetshrub, amsonia, foamflower, geranium, blue flag iris and so many more have been blooming for weeks. The huge old ferns have unfurled to their full height and are always magnificent.Some new plants were added to the Quarry Garden this spring. A handful of the selections include the robust Cherokee sedge which is a larval food for many moths and skippers, a new cultivar of clethra with fragrant flowers and good fall color, and New Jersey tea (also native to Georgia). It is being contemplated to replace the wood chip paths in the Quarry Garden with a slate chip path to make them easier to see and traverse. This is the material we are using in all the other gardens except the Smith Farm which has red gravel to imitate a red clay road. The wood chips get very spongy after rains, especially after being topped up over and over since the 1970’s! Moving that many cart-loads of stone chips and stone dust is no small feat however, so this project may be something we tackle in the cooler weather this fall.
    • Corresponding Secretary -Katie Bockstedt NO REPORT
    • Treasurer – Jo Phelps NO REPORT
  1. Committee Reports
    • Programs – Julie Yates and Sarah McElroy NO REPORT
    • Membership & Dues – Amy Underwood NO REPORT
    • Historian – Jinny Keough: The Cherokee Garden Library recognized Mimosa in the Spring 2023 issue of their Garden Citings magazine for donations from our club records.  Honorary member Pattie Boykin donated her printed member directories from 1956-2013. On behalf of Mimosa, Jinny donated 2 attendance ledgers covering the years 1981-2012 and various materials regarding the establishment of the Quarry Garden. These materials were stored among the past presidents notebooks in Jinny’s basement. Library Director Staci Catron was very pleased to be offered the material and will ensure it is archived and preserved. Several members have donated material for the scrapbook from past flower shows, parties, etc. Jinny was  happy to receive memorabilia.  She requested that all items have names and dates (when possible) so she knows where to put them. The scrapbook is getting full – Staci is researching where to find another so we can keep adding memories. When this one is full, it will go to the Cherokee Garden Library for archiving with the previous scrapbooks.
    • Parliamentarian – Jackie Cushman NO REPORT
    • Website- Jennifer Hill NO REPORT
    • State Garden Club Liaison – Lindsey Sones NO REPORT

  1. New Business: Aimee announced: The Mimosa year officially ends on June 30th, but this is the last meeting until next Fall. She thanked the board and committee chairs for all of their hard work and time spent making the last year a success. Aimee showed her gratitude to many members: “Thank you to Parker for the beautiful new nametags and managing the hostess chart.Thank you to Kendrick for keeping us informed about the Speech School garden and planning a great workday in April. Thank you to Molly for letting us know about everything happening at the Quarry Garden and for the beautiful photos you have shared.Thank you to Leslie, Alden and Amanda Tucker for taking good notes at our meetings for the minutes. Thank you to Katie for keeping us all in the loop by creating our meeting invitations and sending member email announcements. Thank you to Jo for maintaining our books. Thanks to Amy for collecting our membership dues. Thank you to Sarah and Julie for planning interesting and informative programs this year.Thanks to Lois and Maggie for hosting a lovely luncheon for our new members. Thanks to Alden, Sarah and Mary Mac for leading our Amaryllis project. Thank you to Jennifer for her technical savvy and work on our website. Thanks to Lindsey for managing all the information we receive from the Garden Club of Georgia. Thank you to Jackie for keeping us in line with the by laws as the Parliamentarian and thank you to Jinny for preserving our history. A very big thank you to Shelby for advising me all year on a regular basis and to the recent past presidents I consulted often – Jinny and Lindsey. You were so generous with your time and advice”
  • Aimee passed the gavel to our fabulous next President, Parker Tekin.
  1. Program
  • Spalding Nix  introduced our speaker, Carleton Wood, Executive Director of Hills & Dales Estate. In 1989-90 Wood spent a year traveling and studying gardens in Europe with an emphasis on English Gardens. The talk highlighted some of his favorite European gardens. His talk included: Glenveagh, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Ilnacullin, Hidcote, Isola Bella and he made recommendations for other gardens to consider visiting.  It was a wonderful presentation!
  1. Adjournment & Lunch
  • Aimee thanked hostesses: Maggie Fischer, Julie Yates, Lois Yates. Meeting was adjourned for lunch

April 2023 Meeting Minutes

Mimosa Garden Club

Meeting Minutes

April 25, 2023

Governor’s Mansion

Aimee started by thanking the hostesses Dee McElroy, Sarah McElroy, and Sophie Mason for hosting the meeting and the tour of the governor’s mansion. She thanked Julie Yates for her work organizing the tour.

Aimee announced our 5 new members and noted that we had record voting this year. Thanked everyone for voting and thanked the sponsors and endorsers. The new members are Abby Echols, Allison Felton, Shannon Hill, Alice Phillips, and Kelly Spalding. They are invited to the May meeting.

We need to vote on the 2023/2024 Board of Officers. One motion is made. Another motion was made and then we approved the slate of officers.

2023/2024 Board of Officers

Ex-Officio                                                        Aimee Nix

President                                                         Parker Tekin

Vice President                                                Kendrick Williams

2nd VP – Speech School                                Mary Ayres Griggs

3rd VP – Quarry Garden                                 Elkin Taylor

Recording Secretaries                                    Genie Gray, Mims Hill, Amanda Orr

Corresponding Secretary                            Leslie Neely & Katie Bockstedt

Treasurer                                                        Margaret Warren

Membership  & Dues                                    Mary Mac Southerland

Programs                                                        Brittany Hill & Alden Potts

New Member Mentors & Luncheon            Jennifer Raulet & Susan Virgin

Website                                                           Jennifer Hill

State Garden Club Liaison                            Wawa Hines

Parliamentarian                                              Jackie Cushman

Historian                                                          Jinny Keough                                                             

Party Chairs                                                    Liles Thompson & Amanda Tucker         

The meeting was adjourned to begin the tour of the Governor’s Mansion and grounds. Lunch was not served at this meeting because the ballroom was not available for our group.

Minutes: March 2023 Meeting

Welcome & Call to Order

Aimee welcomed everyone and thanked Hostesses – Kim Austin, Jinny Keough, Eillen Millard, Shayla Rumely

Aimee wished a Happy Birthday to Shelby Drinkard, Lindsey Sones and Gayle Alston

Reading & Approval of Minutes

Printed copies were provided.  The minutes were approved, first motion by Susan Virgin, second by Shelby Drinkard.   

Officer Reports

Vice President N/A         

Second Vice President (Speech School) – Kendrick Williams. Kendrick announced the upcoming workday at the Speech School on Apr. 12th.  The workday is a day full of planting new plants and shrubs.  Pictures will be posted of the workday on the website.   

Kendrick sent an email with the photos of the beautiful daffodils blooming in the Speech School Garden.

Third Vice President (Quarry Garden) – Molly West. Molly passed photos of the Quarry garden.        

Corresponding Secretary N/A

Treasurer N/A

Committee Reports

Programs N/A

Membership & Dues N/A

Historian N/A

Parliamentarian N/A

Website- Jennifer Hill. Jennifer sent notes to the meeting: A new provider is being established, please reach out to her if you have any questions.  An email will be sent out regarding nominees and voting will be Apr 1-15. 

State Garden Club Liaison – Lindsey Sones. Aimee announced that if you would like to attend the convention, please email Lindsey directly. 

Reminder – Dogwood District is hosting: “Garden Magic on the Mountain.” to celebrate The Garden Club of Georgia’s 95th Anniversary at their annual convention, April 18-20 at Stone Mountain. There will be workshops, demonstrations, lectures and many vendors.

New Business

  • Aimee announced the following:
  • We have 5 candidates for membership. Voting will be open April 1 – April 15. New members were announced at the April meeting. 
  • As a reminder, at our Business Meeting in January it was decided that we will increase the number of new members from 3 to 5 for this year (one year only) to make up for our hostess shortfall and increase our membership. We will need to vote today on this increase to make it official (because to amend our bylaws notice should be given to members 2 months before voting on the proposed amendment). 

A motion was made to approve the increase of the number of new member openings in 2023 from 3 to 5. It was approved, motion by Jinny Keough and second by Beth Nix. All members were in favor. 

  • The nominating committee met to work on the slate of officers for next year. Please consider saying yes if you are called because our garden club runs on volunteer work. A reminder was made to vote for new members Apr 1-15.
  • Important announcement for our meeting at the Governor’s Mansion on Tuesday, April 25th! The tour will begin at 10:00 and last until 11:30. We will be divided into 2 groups. Everyone who attends must be on a list sent the day before the meeting and everyone should have their ID with them. The ballroom is not available for us that day so we are not able to have lunch at this meeting. 
  • Historic Oakland Cemetery Tour – Thursday, April 20th, at 10:00 a.m.

We still have room for a few more members to join the Oakland Cemetery tour on Thursday, April 20th, at 10:00 a.m. Space is limited to 20 participants. Please respond to Aimee Nix if you can attend: aimeenix@gmail.com  Currently 10 members have signed up. 

  • Mimosa members have been invited to celebrate 100 years of Peachtree Garden Club on Wednesday, April 19th at 6:30 at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Aimee will forward the invitation with details and links to purchase tickets.
  • Saturday, April 22nd the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is having their Spring Ramble in Ansley Park. Mimosa member, Mildred Spalding, will have her house on the tour. 
  • Other new business:

Shelby made a reminder about the need for a new treasurer. This is 2 year position.  It is necessary to know Excel, file an annual report with the GA Garden Club and the GA State Secretary. More information can be provided about the position from Aimee.  

Program

  • Sarah McElroy introduced Blake Segars. Founder of T. Blake Segars Architecture and Landscapes.  Blake discussed classical and traditional architecture and design philosophies and how they can be modernized to bring fresh perspective and greater function to today’s home and garden designs. He said his motto is “home is where the heart is= LOVE”.  He stressed the importance of maintaining the sentiment, that the love of family should transcend from your home to your garden.
  • Two of his favorite books are: GET YOUR HOUSE RIGHT AND THE AMERICAN VIGNOLA. 

Adjournment & Lunch

  • Aimee thanked our hostesses: Kim Austin, Jinny Keough, Eillen Millard, Shayla Rumely
  • The meeting was adjourned for lunch.