The Mountain Laurel Chapter Annual Meeting & Potluck was held at the Whitneyville Cultural Commons on a sunny October 3rd Saturday. Although lightly attended, there was no shortage of delicious food and lively conversation. President Lydia Pan conducted a short business meeting that reviewed 2026 highlights, including its continued growth, a celebration of the 20 th anniversary of the chapter’s founding, continued development of regional hubs, expanded community outreach and our 6th fall native plant sale fundraiser. Treasurer Arline Culp could not attend, so Lydia presented a top line year-to-date Financial Report that showed the chapter to be in excellent financial health. Chapter elections will be held in November to fill vacancies for Vice President, Secretary and multiple Chapter Directors who will be stepping down when their current terms expire on December 31, 2026. You can view or review the annual meeting slides at the link below.
After the business meeting, we were treated to a special talk. Amanda Bunce, a PhD candidate in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Connecticut, spoke about the biology, ecology, history and cultural significance of the white oak Quercus alba that was documented by the White Oak Heritage Project, part of UConn’s CT 250 commemoration that Amanda helped to develop. Furthermore, she noted that 2026 looks like a mast year for white oaks, with the mature trees across our region synchronously bearing an unusually large crop of
acorns. A link to Amanda’s slides and to the White Oak Heritage project can be found below. In closing, she encouraged each of us to add our favorite tree to an ongoing survey of CT’s legacy white oaks and to view a map being generated from the survey data.
Upon leaving the WCC, we realized that the slope next to our meeting space was carpeted with white oak acorns! Inspired by Amanda’s talk, several of us gathered handfuls of nuts to help sow a generation of successors to the legacy white oaks in our towns.
RESOURCES
Mountain Laurel Chapter 2026 Annual Meeting Slides
White Oak: CT’s Symbol for Liberty and Independence (Amanda Bunce’s presentation slides)
UConn Forestry Extension White Oak Heritage project
Survey of Legacy White Oak Trees of Connecticut