Gretchen Morris was inducted into the Second Wind Hall of Fame at the Tryon Garden Club’s May 21 meeting.
“I was shocked, awed and speechless!” Morris said, adding that she was “honored to join such a distinguished group of volunteers.”
Currently a board member of the Tryon Garden Club and chairperson for Pearson’s Falls, the popular tourist destination owned and operated by the club, Morris has also chaired the club’s Civic Beautification committee which included maintaining Tryon’s Depot Garden.
In the recent past, Morris volunteered for TROT (Therapeutic Riding of Tryon) which provides equine assisted activities for special needs children and adults through Foothills Equestrian Nature Center, as well as Polk County’s 4-H club where she taught sewing and worked as a project volunteer and mentor.
Morris enjoys singing in the Tryon Congregational Church’s choir, and has chaired the church’s Memorial Services committee and volunteered for the Harvest Sale and Back Pack Kids food delivery.
In addition to being a member of the Hendersonville chapter of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, an international organization dedicated to women’s education and advancement, Morris also enjoys quilting, painting, traveling, and gardening.
Prior to retirement, Morris was the lead administrative assistant in the History Department at Syracuse University. She and her husband, Doug, moved to the Thermal Belt area in 1997 and have three children who now live in Washington and New York.
The Second Wind Hall of Fame has been honoring outstanding Thermal Belt retiree volunteers since 1974.

– article submitted
by Susan McNabb