It has been several months since I have been in touch with you. I would like to take just a few minutes of your time to recap what has and is happening at the Arboretum. Let me start by recognizing the hard work our staff has put in to these accomplishments. Our Volunteers are certainly to be acknowledged and thanked for all the time, effort and value they contribute. I must also acknowledge the time and work the Board of Trustees, also volunteers, put into making all this possible.

Let me start by recognizing another successful Lockerly Plant Sale. I hope all of you had a chance to stop by and pick up a few items for your own garden. The Plant Sale Committee will be meeting in the near future to make next year's event even better. If any of you are interested and would like to volunteer for this committee please contact Mrs. Pollard. As a fundraiser, it is imperative to have a great group of volunteers committed to organizing and making it happen.  

As you may know Rose Hill (the Mansion) has finally, after several years, been designated as a National Historic Site. We are hopeful that this recognition will increase our visitors to include individuals from around the Southeast. I would remind everyone that old houses are always in need of some repair. The 'Invest in Rose Hill' campaign continues as we are committed to keeping Rose Hill in good order. If you are so inclined to help please contact Mrs. Pollard or Mrs. Jones.

With the able guidance of Mrs. Pollard, we have completed our first 'Strategic Plan' in many years. We appreciate all the input that we received from all of our partners. I believe we now have a plan to carry us forward into the future. Mr. Grassmann's vision was a major part of the process. One of the areas I am most excited about is the expansion of our Education Program to include significantly more programs for Adults. We hope to present a series of garden specific topics. I hope that everyone will take advantage of this program as we plan to roll it out in 2018. I look forward to sharing information about our Education program in each edition of our newsletter.

Early this spring we were contacted by Mr. Bill Hartley about a camellia collection which had been owned by Mr. Grassmann, our founder. The collection was at the old clay mine in Dry Branch. We got permission to visit the site and took pictures and tagged several Camellia japonica. They were still in bloom at the time of the visit. Lockerly staff members have subsequently also visited and have taken cuttings which are presently in the greenhouse under mist.   We hope that they will root and we can continue to preserve them and add to our Collection, which was also started by Mr. Grassmann.  

As an Arboretum, we must track and catalogue our trees and shrubs. To that end, our volunteers have been diligently at work tagging and counting our plants. With this process well under way, we were reminded that we could apply for certification with ArbNet, a program spearheaded by The Morton Arboretum in Illinois. This program has four levels of certification and is recognized as the Number One accreditation program for arboreta worldwide. Dr. Wipple and Ms. Colvin tackled the application program with great vigor and we are confident that we will be recognized as a Level 2 Arboretum in short order. We will be in very select company when this certification is complete as only four other organizations in Georgia are at Level Two. Thanks to the staff for pulling all the information together so that the committee of two could get this submitted so quickly.

As you may have heard we finally drilled a well which found water. It is not a lot of water but we are moving forward with plans to irrigate our valued collections of plants. A normal year does not require much irrigation but a drought like last year makes it imperative that we have a source of water other than the city/county. This is an ongoing project which we hope to have completed by next spring.

If you are a longtime partner of Lockerly you will remember the 2004 inaugural event called 'Lockerly Under the Stars'. It was the start of a wonderful program that everyone so enjoyed.   Well, we are bringing it back. The plans are to make it an annual event that all of you will look forward to attending. Please look at your calendar and join us for a wonderful evening of music and food on September 9, 2017. You can register on line or call Lockerly to reserve your spot for this wonderful event.

In any organization change is going to happen. Procedures changes as do people. I want to say thank you to a very special lady who has been instrumental in the continued success of our Education Program. She came to us as a Dirt Digger and then served as a Trustee and Education Committee Chair for several years. Her retirement from the Board of Trustee in April was a great loss. As you may remember Mr. Grassmann had Education at the top of his wish list. Without Mrs. Kathy Chandler's contributions, our Foundation would not be where it is today. Her vision was also the reason the Woods Museum is a wonderful spot to start a day's outing at Lockerly. Thank you, Kathy, for all your help and guidance. I look forward to seeing you at the fall festivities and many other future events.

Let me close with some parting thoughts. I did not intend for this to be so long but our accomplishments are many and needed to be acknowledged along with the people who made them happen. All of this cannot be done without the support of volunteers and donors. We have plans for new and exciting programs for families and we will be having some special events for our donors and Friends. All of this comes with a price tag and I would like to encourage each of you to please renew your Friends of Lockerly membership at a higher level. If you are not presently a member of Friends of Lockerly I would invite you to join at the Dogwood level or above. I am continually in awe of the progress we have made to shine the Lights on Lockerly.

I am really looking forward to seeing each of you at Lockerly Under the Stars in just a few weeks. Please get registered and be prepared for a lovely evening.

Rodger Flotta, President

Lockerly Arboretum Foundation