Executive Directors
Stephanie Van Parys: Executive Director (2005-
Stephanie Van Parys’s September 2005 succession into
the role of executive director of the Oakhurst Garden was
part serendipity and part good planning. Sally Wylde, the
Garden’s “founding mother” and Stephanie’s
predecessor in the position, recruited Stephanie to the Garden
board in 2003.
Stephanie is a trained
horticulturist who has served on the boards of organizations like Sevananda
Natural Foods Cooperative and Georgia Organics.” With her volunteering,
coupled with a B.S. in horticulture from the University of Georgia (1997) and
time on the Atlanta Botanical Gardens staff, she knew what the Garden needed.
As a board member, she created a slate of community classes that have introduced
droves of newcomers to the Oakhurst Garden. She also organized Earth Day and
a program of volunteer workdays.
When Sally announced
her retirement in January 2005, the board unanimously agreed that Stephanie
was the ideal successor. “I couldn’t dream up a better job for
myself,” Stephanie adds.
Stephanie, her husband,
Rob, and their two children, Oscar (4) and Eleanor (2), live in Oakhurst with
their dogs, chickens, and rabbit.
Sally Wylde: Co-Founder and Executive Director Emerita
(1997-2005)
An artist and teacher for thirty years, Sally Wylde has a
master of fine arts in painting from Tufts University and
a master of theological studies from Candler School of Theology
of Emory University. Moving from rural Massachusetts to the
densely populated city of Decatur to attend school in 1993,
she wondered about the effects of urbanization and separation
from nature on children and residents.
When a group of local children vandalized a neighbor’s
garden in 1996, Sally and her neighbor, Louise Jackson, invited
the children to become caretakers of the garden. They restored
Jackson’s garden and moved on to create a garden in
the median strip of the street in front of Jackson’s
house. The children took tremendous pride in their work,
which was honored at a ceremony. Decatur’s then-Mayor,
Elizabeth Wilson, presented each child with a certificate
of appreciation.
Sally, who also served on the Decatur Greenspace Commission
and is a member of the Decatur Rotary Club, retired as the
Garden’s executive director in 2005. She was honored
in 1998 as a Decatur Hometown Hero.
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