Hillin-Spivey
Ms. Sharyn Washburn Hillin and Mr. David B. Adams of Birmingham announces the engagement of Ms. Hillin’s daughter, Shelby Nicole, to Thomas Mason Spivey, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Delane Spivey, also of Birmingham. The bride-elect is the granddaugh-
Richardson, Texas. The groom is a 2014 graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and a 2015 magna cum laude graduate of Texas Christian University, with a master’s degree in accounting. He is a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young in Fort Worth. Given in marriage by her parents and escorted by her father, the bride wore a custom strapless, silk crepe, fit to flare Olia Zavozina gown. Her gown featured freshwater pearl buttons and a chapel-length train. She also wore a Jennifer Leigh cathedrallength veil with Alencon lace trim and scalloped detailing. She carried a bouquet of white hydrangeas, white peonies and Tibet and Vendela roses accented with silver brunia and seeded eucalyptus. Serving as maid of honor was sister of the bride Anne Stanton Compton of Mountain Brook. The bridesmaid was Callie Anne Wilson and the junior bridesmaid was Anne Hardy Wilson, both of Mountain Brook. Ryan Chase Pulsifer, brother of the groom, of Austin, Texas, served as best man. Jerome Paul Compton III, brother of the bride, of Coral Gables, Florida, was the groomsman and Gunner Matthews Stiles, cousin of the groom, of Allen, Texas, served as junior groomsman. Scripture readings from Psalms and Hebrews were provided by Anna Elizabeth Strickland of The Woodlands, Texas, cousin of the groom, and John Austin Felton of Parkville, Missouri. Albert Morris Middleton Jr. was the usher. Music was performed by Caroline Nordlund and Lakeshore Strings. After a wedding trip to Cancun, Mexico, the couple lives in Fort Worth. ter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Fred Mathis Washburn of Birmingham. Miss Hillin is a graduate of Oak Mountain High School and the University of Alabama, where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and was a member of Phi Mu sorority. She received her master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Montevallo and will begin teaching in the fall. The prospective groom is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Aubrey Ivy Jr. of Birmingham and the late Mr. and Mrs. Loyce Edker Spivey of Dothan. Mr. Spivey is a graduate of Mountain Brook High School and the University of Alabama, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He is employed with Altec. The wedding is planned for July 23 at Mountain Brook Community Church in Birmingham.
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Botanical Adventures
McMinn Fled the Business World for a Life Lived in the Garden By Emily Williams Though she doesn’t have a garden of her own living in her downtown Birmingham apartment, Brooke McMinn, plant adventures program specialist, finds ownership in her work with the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. McMinn grew up in the Hoover school system and recalls going on field trips to the Botanical Gardens, but she did not have a concrete passion for horticulture. “My grandparents really taught me to appreciate nature,” she said. She recalls shucking corn and making jam with her grandmother and foraging for wild foods such as blackberries with her grandfather. Following a different path, McMinn pursued a business degree, which landed her in accounting working as vice president of administrative services for a local business. “When the owner passed away, I think I suddenly realized that I loved who I worked for but I didn’t actually love the work,” she said. When she and her husband made a move to New Jersey, she decided to make a career change and enrolled in Rutgers University to pursue a degree in plant science and medicinal and economic botany. The degree is a marriage of her appreciation for food and nature as well as a love of science, sparked by the introduction of the human genome project when she was in elementary school. In her current position, she hopes to pass on that appreciation to her students. “The purpose is to inspire people to care more about plants,” she said. “It’s easy to relate to other animals because they have a face and other similarities. So, you have to find that middle ground with plants.” Coming Home
In 2014, McMinn and her husband moved back to Birmingham, favoring the idea of raising her daughter in the same city as both of their parents. While hunting for jobs that would fit her horticultural expertise, she came across the listing for her current position at the gardens and applied. “If I could have written my dream job description, it would have been this one,” she said. In her position at the gardens, McMinn oversees the Plant Adventure Zone garden, which is used in various educational programs for school-age children and adults. Because staff is limited and maintenance spreads across more than 67 acres of foliage, volunteers are the backbone of garden maintenance. Many of McMinn’s most loyal volunteers are developmentally disabled adults. “One of my longest-running workers is Anthony Payne. They wrote a volunteer spotlight article about him a while back,” she said. “He’ll always be the first to say that he feels valued and cared for here. He’s almost always in a good mood and because he’s seen some of these plants grow,
Journal photo by Emily Williams
Compton–Pulsifer
Catherine Jane Compton and Cameron Taylor Pulsifer were married April 16 at the Country Club of Birmingham in Mountain Brook, where a reception and dinner followed. The ceremony was officiated by Dr. James Randolph Barnette of Brookwood Baptist Church. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Paul Compton Jr. of Mountain Brook. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Jerome Paul Compton and the late Mr. Compton of Georgiana and Mrs. Donnie Jerald Rucks and the late Mr. Rucks of Frostproof, Florida. The bride is a 2014 graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, where she received a bachelor’s degree in nursing, was a University Honors laureate and was a member of Alpha Chi Omega. She is a registered nurse at Mesa Springs Hospital in Fort Worth. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Scott Pulsifer of Frisco, Texas. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Robin Duane Pulsifer of Granite Shoals, Texas, and Dr. and Mrs. James Elliott Stiles of Plano, Texas, and Ms. Barbara Van Voorst Stiles of
Thursday, May 19, 2016 • 25
weddings/gardens
OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal
Brooke McMinn, plant adventures program specialist, finds ownership in her work with the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
he really takes ownership of the garden.” The work is mostly weeding, but volunteers such as Payne also help her maintain pest traps, since she tries to steer clear of pesticides, and prune disease out of plants. The area acts as a representative of some of the plants on display in areas of the garden that are less accessible, including the Japanese Garden, and plants are on display at varying heights so volunteers and visitors can sit, stand or kneel. McMinn’s favorite plants, the carnivorous Venus fly traps, rest in a makeshift bog in the center of the garden. “We use those plants to teach children about evolutionary adaptations,” she said. “The Venus fly traps aren’t native to the area, but they are found in the southeast.” Taking the Garden Home
Though many of the species on display in her garden are difficult to grow in an Alabama backyard, one even landing on the endangered list, there are many plants that are easy to grow in the yard and also give back more than just their appearance. First on her list is aloe vera, classified as a succulent, which makes it a breeze for amateur gardeners.
“It’s pretty impossible to kill unless you give it too much water,” she said. “You can use it on skin irritations and burns.” Speaking of irritation, it’s mosquito season and McMinn has an easy solution to keep the pests away. Lemongrass. “We have a balcony and the second I moved back home, I crammed about five of them on the porch,” she said. For something a little more advanced, lavender is an option that is not only pleasing to the eye, but to the stomach as well. “It is antimicrobial and it is also delicious. I use it in almost everything. It’s great in your cocktails, cookies and dressings.” For a culinary experience, McMinn suggests looking beyond vegetables and herbs to something a little bit higher. Fruit trees are something she has found to be underused in the area. She’s hoping for a resurgence of a forgotten fruit. “Paw Paw trees used to be really popular as food plants, but they don’t transport well so they lost popularity around the time that most of our fruit started coming from California,” she said. “I would love to see more of them. They are absolutely delicious and much easier to maintain than something like an apple or pear tree. ❖
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