April Meeting Minutes

  • Welcome and Call to Order
  • Parker welcomed and thanked hostesses (Nancy McGuirk, Nancy Hatcher, Alden Potts, Britt Hll)
  • Parker read and asked for Approval of Minutes
  • Both February and March minutes have been posted and need to be approved. Is there a motion to approve the February and March minutes by Aimee Nix. A second by Maysie Beeson. All were in favor.
  • Officer Reports
  • Vice President report by Kendrick Williams
    • Kendrick brought the hostess chart and said it was full for 2024-2025 and said this was the last time she was bringing it.
  • Second Vice President / Speech School / summarized by Parker Tekin:

The garden gets a lot of use this time of year, not just with Courtyard activities and special events like the Easter egg hunt, but our staff sit outside in this glorious weather for a quick breather. The new teal furniture and large patio umbrellas are the perfect setting for lunch or impromptu meeting. We are planning fun graduation activities out there next month as well. And before you know it, we will welcome new students to the garden for “popsicles with parents” this summer. Hard to believe we are sprinting to the finish line of another school year.

Thank you, as always, for Mimosa Garden Club’s continued support. We love partnering with you!

  • Third Vice President / Quarry Garden / summarized by Elkin Taylor:

The spring ephemeral bloom has been spectacular this year. Spring ephemerals are one of the highlights of the Quarry Garden, and a significant part of the Georgia native plant collection.

They include all the plants that take advantage of late winter and early spring sunlight to emerge, grow and flower before the trees leaf out. At that point they slowly go dormant, disappearing until the next spring. There are literally hundreds of lavender-colored fernleaf phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida) flowering right now. They overlapped with the bright yellow blossoms of golden groundsel (Packera aurea) for quite a dazzling display. The trillium have almost finished flowering, of which there are dozens sprinkled around in the garden. Pawpaws are flowering heavily now and we hope they set some fruit.

The Gardens team finished putting down slate chip for the trails, so they are much easier to walk upon now, compared to the wood chips we have used in the past. They should last much longer as well, allowing the staff more time to focus on the collections management rather than trail maintenance.

Nearby we have dug a new well, and are in process of hooking up the well to our existing irrigation system. This will provide more water to our currently short water supply and allow us to ensure the collections will not suffer through drought.

Olmsted Plein Air competition was this weekend, and several of the artists ventured down to see and paint the wildflowers. We also had a Homeschool Day this week, with a special station set up in the Quarry Garden by our Education staff.

We are looking for a carpenter to help us rebuild the wagon that used to be in the Quarry, ‘pulled’ by the 2 mules to demonstrate the history of this land being quarried back in the late 1800s-early 1900s. I’ll keep you posted on the progress!

  • Treasurer Report by Margaret Warren:
  • Operating account $10,387
  • Savings account $7879
  • Party account $29,937*
  • Total cash $48,203

*This is a gross balance, party dues haven’t been paid

Thanks to everyone who recommended CPA’s. Working on it and due 5/15

  • Committee Reports
  • Programs/ Alden and Britt: none
  • Membership & Dues:
    • MM – 100% paid by March 26, 2024!
  • State Garden Club Liaison/ Wawa and report given by Parker
    • Thomasville Garden Club annual flower show on April 26 and 27
  • Party Chairs (Liles Thompson and Amanda Tucker):
    • Shelby- tickets are here and ready to pick up. There are only a few that need to purchase them.
  • New Business by Parker
  • Leslie Morgan (a member since 2007) resigned. Moved to Charleston
  • Received a donation from Bettye Maddox. She just wanted to make some kind of contribution because she is no longer required to pay dues or purchase party tickets. She said the Speech School is a meaningful place for her, but the

donation should go “wherever it will do the most good for Mimosa.” We are working on this and will keep you posted.

  • We have 3 new Mimosa members! Thank you to their sponsors and endorsers and thank you to everyone who voted. Sponsors were asked to call & welcome new members plus invite them to our party.

New Members 2024-2025 Beverly Freeman Briggs Laura Hatfield Troup Ashley Fortune Whitehurst

  • The Nominating Committee has completed the slate of officers and committee chairs for next year. I am thrilled to present the 2023-2024 Mimosa Board (attached). We need to vote to elect these officers. Shelby made a motion to elect the board slate. All voted in favor.
  • Program
  • Alden introduced our speaker,Rena Ann Peck who discussed the Okenfenokee Swamp Refuge Conservation project.
  • Adjournment & Lunch by Parker
  • Our last meeting will be May 14 at my parents’ house.
  • Thank hostesses and adjourn for lunch