I look forward to the opportunity to serve you and the Deep South Garden Clubs, Inc. as your Director for 2025-2027. It has been an honor to represent the great state of Tennessee as the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. President. I have been a member of a garden club since the early 1980’s. The club I belonged to and served as president was not a federated club. Wanting to become a Flower Show Judge, I organized a federated club, the Town and Country Garden Club of Wilson County in 2006. I soon became an Accredited NGC Flower Show Judge and an NGC Landscape Designer. I am also a Master Gardener, member of the American Rose Society, Nashville Rose Society, American Hemerocallis Society and the Middle Tennessee Daylily Society, serving as the FS Design Chairperson. I have served as the Wilson County Fair Flower Show Chairman and The Rose Show Chairman for many years and served on the Fair Board. The Wilson County Fair has now become the Tennessee State Fair.

My husband and I own a 315-acre farm in Watertown TN. Agriculture is a very important part of our lives. We run a cow, calf operation and market Black Angus freezer beef. Hay is also another crop we raise and sell. Being good stewards of the land we hope this will be our legacy to pass on to our children. Eric ( Rhonda) Is our oldest son, who is also a Veteran of the US Navy and a partner in our company. Thorne’s Excavating Company, LLC, a heavy utilities and grading company was established in 1972, by my husband’s father, Robert. Traci Thorne Pope (John), our daughter, works for Vanderbilt University and has her degreesfrom David Lipscomb University and her Masters in Medical Business Management from Vanderbilt . She is also a member of our garden club. Caleb (Jessica), our youngest son, is a Civil Engineer and a partner in Smith Ragan Associates, Inc. based in Nashville TN. Nathan (Courtney) our grandson is in the estimating dept and partner at TEC., so it is now a fourth-generation company. They welcomed our first great-grandchild in October, a little girl, Miller Oakley. Kennedy and Garrett (two more grandchildren) are graduates and soon to be a graduate of the University of Mississippi.

Kennedy is a member of our garden club and also attended college in London and Dublin, Ireland. While she was there, Nathan, Kennedy and I toured the Chelsea Flower Show! We had a wonderful time in Europe visiting many countries and inspiring gardens. Kennedy serves as the editor of The Volunteer Gardener. Our youngest grandchildren, Laine (16), Copland (11) and Hunter( 9) enjoy the farm, playing all sports, horseback riding, wildlife and helping with many other animals we raise here. It is important for our youth to experience where our food comes from. They also love to check the Bluebird boxes we maintain. Hunter (9) names every animal on the farm.

Looking forward to visiting you soon!

Sincerely,

Denise Thorne

President 2023-2025

Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.

615-289-2138, denise@tec63.com