2023 Annual Meeting
At our 2023 Annual Membership Meeting on June 22nd at 5:30 pm we will be asking our membership to vote on a few items:
2022 Annual Meeting Minutes
The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County held its annual membership meeting on Thursday, June 23, 2022. The meeting was held in the Parish Hall of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Charlotte Street. President Amy Hornaday called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Approximately sixty members were in attendance.
President Hornaday presented the proposed slate of Officers and members of the Board of Directors, as follows:
President – Josi Ward
Vice-President – Bruce Johnson
Treasurer – William Eakins
Secretary – Betty Lawrence
Board Members at Large:
Cynthia Watson
Heath Towson
Thomas Franks
Dave Bedingfield
Dale Slusser
Rich Mathews moved, and Jeanne Warner seconded, that the slate be elected, and the motion carried.
The Treasurer’s Report was presented, showing total equity on May 2021 of $885,757.36, and in May of 2022 of $1,525,688.00.
Executive Director Jessie Landl presented an update of the Society’s activities for the last few years, since we could not hold annual membership meetings during the Covid pandemic. She noted that operating during the pandemic was challenging, but that we came out all right. She listed our efforts with Montreat, setting up the Johnny Baxter fund, easement monitoring, the Boyd Cabin, a freedman’s cabin in Sandy Mush, which was deconstructed and protected, and studied by archaeologists, the distribution of the houses left to us in trust by Molly Wiebenson on Claxton Place, and their protection via preservation easememts, along with new easements on the Old Sharon Methodist Church in Fairview, the Hearne Cabin in Sandy Mush, and three downtown buildings, the Citizen Express Building, the Public Service Co. Of NC building, and the Morehead House. We advocated and petitioned for the preservation or the Walton Pool. Our grants program granted bricks and mortar grants to Grace Episcopal Church and St. James AME Church, and education grants to the James Vester Miller historic trail, documentation of stories of urban renewal in Southside, and planning, survey and designation grants to South Asheville Cemetery and Black Mountain’s High Top Colony, now both on the National Register of Historic Places. Our monumental efforts, ultimately unsuccessful, to preserve the houses on the block of Charlotte Street across from the former Fuddruckers restaurant were outlined, along with our cooperation with the Montreat Stewards to prevent the demolition of three historic houses. Lastly, she described our acquisition or the Cappadocia Church and a home on Grail Street in East End, along with the volunteer opportunities presented.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Betty Lawrence,
(then acting) Secretary
Our 2023/2024 Board Slate
Renewing Board members:
1. Carol Hensley
2. Michael Logan
New Board member:
1. Lauren Henry
Lauren Henry is the Curator of Interpretation at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. She has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and International Studies from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining Biltmore in 2016, her work focused on managing museum collections. In her current role, she researches, interprets, and disseminates information about Biltmore’s history, collections, and structures. The curatorial team at Biltmore oversees tour development, restoration of the historic interiors, exhibitions and more within America’s largest home. She is always enthusiastic about discussing the preservation of historic sites and how we tell their stories.
Updated Bylaws
Click here to review our Updated Bylaws
Please feel free to reach out to staff at 828-254-2343 with any questions or concerns before the meeting.
