October Minutes 2024
Welcome and Call to Order
Kendrick Williams welcomed everyone and thanked our hostesses: Shelby Drinkard, Harden Powell, Nancy Powell, and Jo Phelps. She remarked on what a treat it was to be at the tree table. She then thanked those who participated in the Quarry Work Day and commented on how awesome it was to have such beautiful weather.
Reading and Approval of Minutes
Kendrick asked to approve the minutes from the September meeting, which had been posted on the website. Shelby Powell and Amy Nix motioned to approve the minutes and Susan Virgin and Mary Mac Southerland seconded. Minutes were approved.
Officer Reports
Margaret Warren gave the Treasurer report and explained that we have three accounts. The operating account has $13,486; the savings account which has $7,879 and the party account which has $17,298. She went on to hand out copies of the detailed operating budget and said that we would pull out some money for the speech school and some for the history center. Lastly, Margaret explained that most of our budget comes from dues and that we must pay fees to the Garden Club of Georgia.
New Business
Kendrick asked us to please pay dues on the website or to Amanda Orr who had to leave early. After December 1st a fee of $25 is applied. Then Mary Mac Southerland discussed the Amarilys project and said that she doesn’t know the cost of each Amarilys yet since the price depends on the number of orders she receives. Then, Kendrick said that Mimosa is going to participate in the “Victorian Holiday at Oakland” this year. Our day to decorate is December 6th and Mimosa has been assigned to the Dodd Mausoleum. She brought a photo and passed around a signup sheet. She asked us to please sign up to help and told us how much fun it is. Then she encouraged us to be creative and bring trimmings from our own yards.
Program
Kendrick introduced Sara Carter, who has had a twenty plus year career in horticulture. She was the curator of the New York Botanical gardens; attended Berry College and Garden Design school in England.
Rosemary retired after ten years and we wish her the best after the loss of her husband. Sara explained that the Atlanta History Center staff had shifted members of the team with the addition of Ginna Tiesler. Ginna obtained her masters from Harvard in horticulture. She said that she likes to blend the balance of aesthetically beautiful plants and flowers with ecological sustainability. She recommended the book “American Sheep of cultural history” by Brett Bomar, which is for sale in the gift shop at the history center. Then, she went on to discuss the Interpretation Project that the center is undergoing to write interpretive panels for all of the gardens. There are 200 panels to be written to describe why the garden was planted there, what it is and who planted it. Also, they are rolling out more plant labels as there are over 12,000 plants in the entrance gardens up top. They plan to include the plant family, latin name, year of introduction as well as the reason the plant is relevant here (for example, how was this plant used as medicine or by Indian culture). She then told us about a few upcoming events like the great trick or treat, which is for littles in costumes (preferably historical) which will take place there at the history center. Also, there is an event for Veteran’s day on November 11th and a Holiday lighting in December. On January 11th, they are opening a new children’s exhibit. Other upcoming projects include the Civil War, Native land, Hank Aaron and Margaret Mitchell exhibits.
Kendrick asked her to give us a brief history of the tree table. She explained that it was a large white oak near the parking garage and was dying. The tree was over 100 years old the center wanted to provide another way to describe history so they decided to turn it into a table. It was cut into sections by local artisans. They left as much wood as possible to be sanded and re-oiled to preserve it. It was done in February of 2020 by Curt McCalken.
Miscellaneous
Location: Atlanta History Center
Minutes: Allison Cobb Felton
Hostesses: Shelby Drinkard, Harden Powell, Nancy Powell, and Jo Phelps