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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 2022
Shooting the Breeze with Camille Morgan
“A five minute hike
can change your
whole attitude and
life ” says Grand
view “hermitess”
By Jennifer Paire
Progress Contributor
Be prepared to listen if
you ask Master Gardener
Camille Morgan how her
garden grows. The Grand
view area resident oozes pas
sion for the outdoors, and is
known for the extensive col
lection of plants she brings to
the Jasper Farmers Market
from April to September -
something she has been
doing for more than 20 years.
She designs landscapes
and spends her days im
mersed in nature - so much
so she jokingly calls herself a
“hermitess.” An Ohio native,
her working life includes
modeling, dance, retail and
real estate sales - but wher
ever she went, her green
thumb prevailed.
In 1999, Morgan fell in
love with a waterfall down
stream of Grandview Lake
and put down roots on the
stunning five acres it feeds,
cultivating plants that draw
customers during every sea
son. She hopes to share her
forest with others one day.
“Nature is the reason we are
here. A five minute hike can
change your whole attitude
and life.”
How did you develop your
love of plants?
My mother and grand
mother were both wonderful
gardeners and could grow
beautiful plants. My grand
mother had this big tub of
hens-and-chicks succulents
and a beautiful bush - a red-
blooming wiegelia. I remem
ber that from my childhood,
and I have some pink bloom
ing wiegelia now.
What was your early life in
Ohio like?
I am the oldest of three
children, and we lived in
New Holland until I was 15.
I was what they called a
“skinny Minnie” or a bean
pole. Nobody paid much at
tention to me at school other
than that. Then we moved to
Clinton-Sherman Air Force
Photo / Jennifer Paire
Having lived all over the
country and with careers in
modeling, sales and plant
sales, Camille Morgan says
of her life, “I’ve been there
and done that. ”
Base in Oklahoma for my
senior year and things were
totally different. I was sud
denly popular and I never ex
pected to be voted Football
Queen. My confidence
changed after that. I went to
modeling school and became
an instructor after training. I
went to Ohio State Univer
sity for a few semesters and I
taught ballroom and disco
dance at Arthur Murray and
Fred Astaire dance studios. I
worked as a secretary in the
morning, attended classes
and danced at night.
What was modeling like in
the 1960s?
I went to Chicago to pur
sue my modeling career, and
I did print work and modeled
at the Merchandise Mart. I
worked for three different
showrooms modeling ap
parel. I absolutely loved
every moment. I enjoyed
teaching, too. I was hired for
runway modeling, and the
best jobs I got were print
work, like advertisements for
companies like Ford Motor
Company.
How did you get into sales?
While I was in Chicago I
met a wonderful man, Bill
Woollett, and we fell in love
and were together for 25
years. We became sales reps
for Raymor, a division of
Simmons and Sealy, from
1968 to 1970 and we sold
contemporary furniture and
accessories. I was the
youngest and only female
sales rep for Raymor. When
Bill was transferred south to
Memphis, we sold from
Memphis to New Orleans. I
opened a plant and gift shop,
“The Plant Place,” in Mem
phis and we had a ton of
plants. It was the boom of the
plant business in the 1970s.
Floor plans were adding
more porches and patios and
people just loved to have
beautiful green and blooming
plants in their homes,
porches and yards.
How did you get to Geor
gia?
We moved to Atlanta after
five years in Memphis and I
got into real estate with
Northside Realty, selling
properties and investing in
real estate. It was a tough
business. I went to a nursery
auction in Roswell and
bought enough plants to have
Bill build a greenhouse for
me. I decided I enjoyed
growing and selling plants
more than real estate, so I
rented a commercial green
house and started my plant
business.
I sold to retail stores -
Sears, Hastings, Green
Brothers. I was singing and
acting during this time, and
performed at places like
Stage Door Theatre in Dun-
woody. I trained at the Al
liance Theater in Atlanta and
participated there, too.
What are your favorite
things about your life here?
What brought me here
was the mountains and my
waterfall 100%. My favorite
thing to do is hiking. Another
favorite thing to do is spend
time petting and grooming
my cats, Sophie and Blazing
Beauty - BB. They love it
and the connection is so
much stranger when you take
the time and give them love.
What is a day of your life in
the forest like?
I spend the best days hik
ing up to see waterfalls that
most wouldn’t go and see. I
see all the lady slippers, tril-
liums, beautiful colors of
mosses and grass, rocks and
the leaves, the colors and the
textures. I watch the clouds
going by and see the sunrise
and sunset. Breathing fresh
air and feeling so rich with all
the trees and shrubs bloom
ing all the time - the sweet
fragrance of nature. I want
people to know how healing
it is. If you are having a bad
day just take a walk and re
ally experience nature and
everything in it. It’s the most
important thing we can do for
our mind, body and soul. Just
get out and breath, and feel
your breath. Sit on the porch
and close your eyes and feel
it. I am so thankful to be on
this earth to enjoy this. God
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Photo / Dan Pool
“I spend the best days hiking up to see waterfalls that
most wouldn’t go and see, ” says Camille Morgan on a
bridge over a stream near her home.
iThink Financial makes donation
to Highland Rivers
has given us all the ability to
be outside in the fresh air and
enjoy it any time of day.
What kinds of plants are
you known for selling?
I’ve sold a lot of Rose of
Sharon this past year, and by
the way the hummingbirds
love that and pineapple sage,
geraniums and impatiens - all
of which I grow. My Gold
Dust aucuba, evergreens,
pineapple, hostas and
Genghis Khan chrysanthe
mums are popular. I have
herbs: chives, garlic, onion,
mint, lemon balm, parsley,
but my combos have been re
ally common during COVID.
They are blooming and
trailing combinations and I
almost always do the polka
dot aluminum plant with im
patiens and some wandering
jew. When I have geraniums
I sell everyone I take to the
market. The Brazilian plume
and clivia are more expensive
but beautiful.
What are you looking for
ward to in your woods right
now?
I am really looking for
ward to the yellow daffodils
first and then the forsythia’s
beautiful yellow shrub.
There’s nothing happier than
the beautiful spray of yellow.
It says we made it through
the winter and any darkness
and it is time to say yes to
spring.
How would you sum up
your life and what is next?
I’d say I have definitely
been there and done it. I
could have had a mate and a
nice house and children and
all that type of stuff, but I
look back at all I have gotten
to do and all the travel I
would have missed and I’m
happy with it. It’s too late to
start changing things any
way.
My goal is to create a
sanctuary on my property
where others can come and
find peace and experience the
beauty of this place. I want to
share it with others.
Highland Rivers Behavioral
Health and the Highland Rivers
Foundation are extending a big
thank you to iThink Financial for
its recent donation of 20 brand
new mattresses to the Highland Re
covery Center men's residential
treatment program in Jasper.
Something as seemingly sim
ple as mattresses can be very
meaningful to Highland Rivers' res
idential programs, which sometime
serve individuals who have been
homeless or have not slept in a
clean and safe environment for
some time.
In this photo, Highland Recov
ery Center Administrative Assistant
Millie Evans presents a certificate
of appreciation to Michelle Tidwell
(left), branch manaqer of iThink
Financial in Jasper, and Tami
Caspersen, community events man
ager for iThink Financial's seven
metro-area branches, in a room
with one of the new mattresses.
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