Officers and Board Members for 2024

  • President, Richard Hitt
  • Vice President, Donnie Bryan
  • Secretary, Paul Prill
  • Treasurer, Patty Petrous
  • Membership Chair, Alicia Allen

Richard Hitt is a retired university professor. Since becoming a certified Tennessee naturalist in 2013, he enjoys leading interpretive hikes, growing native plants from seeds, giving presentations to groups touting the benefits of native plants, and doing volunteer native plant gardening. He is the founding chapter president.

Donnie Bryan is a retired high school theater and visual arts teacher of thirty-seven years. He served as the Visual and Performing Arts Director of the prestigious Ensworth High School. Upon retiring, Donnie joined Wild Ones  and built a native garden and wildlife sanctuary recognized by the Wildlife Federation. He is a member of the Tennessee Native Plant Society and his native garden was featured on an episode of the PBS show Volunteer Gardener. Donnie grows many native plants from seed which he shares with other native gardeners, Wild Ones plant sales, and back to the ecosystem. Donnie is a world traveler and continues to explore the world.

Patricia (Patty) Petrous is a retired (2016) Corporate Controller (MEDHOST, Inc) having spent 35 years in the Nashville healthcare arena.  After building a new home in Mt. Juliet (2017) she, along with husband, Mike, completed the Wilson County Master Gardener program (2019) and regularly volunteer at Cedars of Lebanon Butterfly Garden and other volunteer programs in the middle Tennessee area. A Wild Ones member since 2019, Patty has served as the Treasurer of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of Wild Ones (2020).  She has 5 grandchildren that live in Nashville. Her other hobbies and passions include gardening, crocheting, traveling, scuba diving and cooking/baking.

Paul Prill is a retired university professor. In 2020, he completed the requirements to become a Master Gardener of Davidson County, and he is currently pursuing the Certification in Native Plants program sponsored by the Tennessee Native Plant Society and the Tennessee Valley chapter of Wild Ones. He is very interested in building partnerships with other organizations dealing with permaculture and gardening of all types.

Alicia Allen is a mechanical engineer and supervisory program manager, retired as a civilian from the US Army. She has wandered the wild areas of Tennessee since she was a young child, developing an appreciation of the plants unique to Tennessee. She volunteers writing and teaching about culinary herbs and native plants.