The Magnolia Historical Society? will continue under the new leadership of Board member and Magnolia resident, Linda O?Neal,?starting in January. This after a discussion and motion to dissolve this past September was made by the Board, which was not acted upon because O?Neal stepped up. The Society has remained active all along as a result.
O?Neal says she is interested in carrying on an ?immensely important tradition and service to the Magnolia Community.? After giving it much thought she cited her love of history and the community, the vast contributions of volunteer writers of Magnolia?s award winning and nominated books: Magnolia: Memories & Milestones and Magnolia: Making More Memories. O?Neal also cited the serious work of the Society to celebrate, document and create Magnolia history since it was founded in 2001.
O?Neal will spend the first year of her presidency building her Board and continuing in the tradition of the Society?s work: free memoir writing workshops, selling Magnolia?s history books, collecting more Magnolia history and having the spring annual meeting about some aspect of Magnolia?s past. She is open to new ideas and directions including family genealogy; and, perhaps developing a scholarship program for deserving Magnolia college bound history students willing to collect new Magnolia history or participate in intern opportunities with MHS. O?Neal will be doing outreach to Magnolians for help in the Society mission with special appeals to PTA?s, new residents and retirees to join in the effort.
Board members Dee St George, Mimi Sheridan, and Kathy Cunningham will be joined by new Board members Greg Shaw, Lisa Meoli and Sue Perdang. Continuing on will be website developer Bruce Jones and Facebook administrator Jeff Cunningham. Monica Wooton is stepping down after 15 years of community historical work but will continue to be on the Board in an advisory capacity and lead the free memoir writing workshops.
Anyone interested in serving on the Board or offering new ideas are encouraged to contact Linda at president@magnoliahistoricalsociety.org. Mission statement and information on MHS books can be found here.