Submitted by Amanda Allen Morrell, Secretary
The January meeting of the Magnolia Garden Club was hosted by Tina Henry at the Latta Library in historic Downtown Latta. Lynn Liebenrood created a splendid outdoor arrangement of ornamental kale and ornamental mustard in a green rectangular container. The ladies enjoyed cake squares, chicken salad tea sandwiches, cheese biscuits, and sweet tea.
The meeting was called to order by President Casey D. Pitts. She asked that all members continue to keep beloved member Betty Allen in their thoughts and prayers as she continues her cancer treatments. Betty sent a lovely thank you card to the club for the ceremony held in her honor on Arbor Day. The club planted a Little Gem Magnolia on the grounds of Latta Elementary School in Betty’s honor and invited family and friends to celebrate the wonderful woman she is and inspires us all to be.
Program Chair Eleanor Powers introduced Julianna Parham as the January speaker. Julianna is the granddaughter of club member Hepsy Parham and a recent graduate of East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, with a degree in Nutrition Science. With a chef as a father, Julianna grew up in a household with a real love and appreciation for great food. Her passion for nutrition and agriculture was reawakened her junior year of college when she interned for the Center for Environmental Farming Systems on a 2200 acre farm focused on sustainable agriculture. Julianna hopes to find a position with FoodCorps where she can focus on food justice in the Carolinas. She shared the unfortunate reality that all people are not given the same right to food. There is a real movement in this country toward local food and bringing people back to understanding where our food comes from. More and more young people are choosing agriculture as a career focusing on growing organic food to sell locally. Restaurants and schools create a high demand for locally sourced goods. Education is another key aspect of this movement according to Julianna. She explains that it is not enough to teach people how to grow healthy food, but educating them about how to prepare the harvested food adds another layer of complexity to the issue. Julianna strongly believes our country needs to resolve hunger issues here before we try and address any grander worldwide hunger problems. Julianna is a passionate young woman, and the club wishes her the best in her future endeavors to change the food quality in our communities. Eleanor Powers presented her with locally produced honey and thanked her for taking the time to share this important information with the club.
President Pitts called the business meeting to order. Belva Greene gave a report on the treasury and the amount of money raised at the Christmas bake sale. The first item of business was planning for Springfest on April 16th as the club’s next fundraising effort. Next, Johnnie Luehrs gave a report on Arbor Day as committee chair and reiterated Casey’s comments that Betty was extremely appreciative of the tree planted in her honor. The club also assisted the Elementary School children plant giant sequoia trees on their campus for Arbor Day. A discussion was held regarding the Five Star Honor Club, and the group decided to forgo participation this year in lieu of supporting club projects already underway. One of those projects is the Legacy Tree Trail; Lynn Liebenrood made a motion to pay Tommy Taylor for his services during the tree planting in full. Johnnie Luehrs seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. The ladies wished Dollie Rice a Happy Birthday on January 10th, and the meeting was adjourned.