February 2023 Meeting Minutes

Welcome and Call to Order

Aimee welcomed everyone and thanked the Hostesses – Jennifer Hill, Molly West & Aimee Nix

Announcements: Amy Smith’s Husband, Bill Smith, passed away on February 19th. He was Liz Crew’s youngest sibling and Rawson Groberty’s uncle, and he was Lamar Smith’s brother-in-law. Mimosa will send a donation to Christ the King in his memory.

Claire Gardner Sherrill passed away on Valentine’s Day at the age of 85 in Highlands, NC. She was a past president of Mimosa.

Reading and Approval of Minutes
Aimee asked to approve the minutes from the January 2023 meeting which were posted on the website. Shelby Drinkard made the motion to approve the minutes as submitted, Lindsey Sones seconded it. All voted in favor and the motion was approved.

Officer Reports

  • Vice President – Parker Tekin
    Parker shared that there are a few spots remaining on the hostess chart and she will reach out to the remaining hostesses.
  • Second Vice President (Speech School) – Kendrick Williams: Aimee gave Kendrick’s report:
    Thank you to all the people who signed up to work the speech school garden in the Spring—that would be great. We have a big group who signed up. Haven is going to get back to us when she has a plan as to when we can work.
  • Third Vice President (Quarry Garden) – Molly West: Aimee gave the report from Sarah Roberts:
    • The Quarry Garden is just starting to wake up with leaf buds swelling on many trees and shrubs. Spring ephemerals are peeking out with our first few precocious bloodroot and trillium showing their flowers. We are grateful it stopped raining for a few days to let the garden soak it all in.
    • We have a new, young volunteer who is joining Rosemary for weekend work. This is especially needed right now as we clear out the rest of the dried out foliage and built up leaf litter from over winter.
    • All the trees in the Quarry Garden were inventoried and tagged over the winter. Goizueta Gardens as a whole has 2,998 trees over 4” caliper, so it was a significant effort over the past five years to get all of these trees identified and tagged. The entire inventory was entered into the database we use for the Living Collections – Iris-BG. Rosemary is also our resident expert in this software program and ensures accuracy in our record keeping.
    • We look forward to the great green flood – when all the trees and shrubs leaf out and spring is upon us. Not long now!
  • Corresponding Secretary – Katie Bockstedt: NO REPORT
  • Treasurer – Jo Phelps
    • Aimee announced that the accountant who has been helping us file our taxes has retired, so we need to find someone else this year. She asked if anyone has any connections or recommendations.

Committee Reports

  • Programs – Julie Yates and Sarah McElroy: NO REPORT
  • Membership & Dues – Amy Underwood: NO REPORT
  • Historian – Jinny Keough: NO REPORT
  • Parliamentarian – Jackie Cushman: NO REPORT
  • Website – Jennifer Hill
    • Jennifer shared that the website is down because of outdated support from GoDaddy. The site problem is a security/access issue, and we have not lost any content. She is working on restoring the site and updating the platform.
  • State Garden Club Liaison – Lindsey Sones
    • Dogwood District is hosting a fantastic event: “Garden Magic on the Mountain” to celebrate The Garden Club of Georgia’s 95th Anniversary at their annual convention, April 18-20 in our own backyard at Stone Mountain. There will be workshops, demonstrations, lectures and many vendors. If you are interested in attending all or some of the events please see me or their website: https://gardenclub.uga.edu
    • Aimee then discussed the possible donation to the convention, the raffle tickets, and their need for volunteers.

New Business

  1. Amaryllis Project Prizes – Aimee thanked Alden Potts, Sarah McElroy and Mary Mac Southerland for organizing the contest. They presented a poster board with photos of the amaryllis contest submissions. Esther Garges won 1st place, Susan Virgin won 2nd place and Wawa Hines came in last and was awarded a funny garden gnome. Prizes were given to the winners.
  2. New Member Nominations – Aimee gave an update on the progress for the new member nominations. 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 on the increase to 5 new slots at the March meeting to make it official. In order to amend our bylaws notice should be given to members 2 months before voting on the proposed amendment.
    • We have received one nomination fully so far but we’ve already received more than 5 inquiries. Please know that we will have a regular vote. Online voting will begin April 1st and last through April 15th.
  3. Meeting at the Governor’s Mansion – Aimee and Julie Yates made an important announcement for our April meeting at the Governor’s Mansion. 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. We are not sure if we are able to have lunch there yet, it will depend on the availability of the ballroom.
  4. Oakland Tour – Aimee announced that Oakland Cemetery has offered to give us a guided tour of the cemetery as a thank you for our participation in the Victorian Holiday Event. Our tour will take place 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

Program
Shelby Drinkard introduced Kate Conner, the executive director of Food Well Alliance. It is a collaborative network of local leaders working together to build thriving community gardens and urban farms across metro Atlanta.

Adjournment & Lunch
Aimee thanked Kate Conner and Food Well Alliance for hosting us. She thanked the hostesses again.

Our next meeting will be March 28, 2023 at the Swan Coach House. Blake Segars, founder of T. Blake Segars Architecture and Landscapes, will discuss 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.

The meeting was adjourned for lunch.