The Southern Appalachian Botanical Club has evolved over the course of fifty-six years from a somewhat closed organization with the limited mission of producing a journal for botanical research in the mountains of the Southeastern United States to a much expanded mission aimed toward the general advancement of interest in botany. This expanded mission is revealed by the establishment of several awards for botanical service and research, by the prodigious efforts of the Newsletter Task Force and the Outreach Committee to generate a greater consciousness and interest in botany throughout our region, and by the steady growth of our membership and of our endowment and other funds during a period of economic recession.