Oral History Interview with Minnette Mullings of the Pine Castle Woman’s Club

The Corner Rose Tea Room Orlando, not to be bias but I consider it the best tea room in Orlando. And I’ve been to tea rooms in England, I’ve been to tea rooms in Atlanta and other places and I still come back and say my little Corner Rose Tea Room is the best tea room to me. This tea room was at The Russell Home and I remember going there for tea one day... Excerpt from an Oral History Interview with Minnette Mullings, Pine Castle Woman’s Club Member in the 85th Anniversary Year of the Pine Castle Woman’s Club, April 30, 2025.

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My name is Minnette Mullings I was born in Jamaica, West Indies. I grew up in Jamaica. I went to high school, I went to nursing school, I did midwifery in Jamaica. And then I migrated to the United States in 1968.

How long were you a midwife?

I’m supposed to be still a midwife, but the training took six months. I was six months in training, delivering, you know, learning how to deliver babies and the complications of pregnancy and delivery. Yes.

Such important work.

Thank you.

So what was it like when you were growing up? What was a typical Sunday like? What would you do?

Okay, a typical Sunday would be there were a few of us in my family and my mother would get up first and start breakfast. And then, we the children would get up later and we would go to church. It was known that if you do not go to church, then you cannot play or you cannot do anything else on Sunday. We went to church at about 9 o’clock for Sunday School and then after Sunday School we stayed for regular church and by that time our parents would join us. And church would be like an hour or an hour and a half. And then when it’s out, then we go home and my mother would finish off dinner and we’d have dinner. And sometimes we could play outside after dinner. And some days on a Sunday we were not allowed to play outside so we’d do reading and games. And like Sunday evening, my father always, always do reading with us. You know to see how we could read. And irrespective of how we think ourselves a good reader, we still had to read aloud for him or else we’d get the whip.

It sounds like it was very enjoyable.

It was a good time, very enjoyable time. We had no cares. We were all cared for and my grandfather who was a very godly man he went to church everyday. And he was a deacon in the church. And as long as I knew my grandfather, I’ve never heard him say one bad word about anybody. I’ve never heard one unkind word out of him. And he preached in the church when the minister was not there because it was one minister for five districts so, you know, they had to use other people to preach. He’d preach and he lived up to his word. He was really a Christian man.

Where did you go to school, was your elementary school in your area?

I went in my area. I went to Albert Town Elementary School for one year. And then at the end of the year I was skipped from A to First Class. I didn’t go to B Class. And then I was living with my grandmother and grandfather in Albert Town. At the end of the year, my father said he wanted me to come back and live with them. So I went back to… Ulster Spring and I started at Ulster Spring Primary School. And I was in First Class and I remember my teacher used to say to me, “Oh, little sister come and pass big brother.” Because I skipped one class I was ahead of my brother. Then I went to class there, I went to second, third, and then I skipped fourth class. Then I went to fifth and then I went to sixth class. So I went very quickly through the grades. And then when I was in sixth class, the teacher always had me go back and help the other classes. So I would do that. And we took exams and I passed the scholarship for a high school and that scholarship helped pay my way to high school.

Nurse Training at Kingston Public Hospital

I went to high school and in my second year in high school I did the GC the general exam then in anatomy and biology which was usually reserved for the third or the fourth year and I passed it then. And when I graduated I went to Kingston Public Hospital where I was trained as a general nurse for three years. And then after that we graduated and went out to work. And I worked in Spalding. When I was in Spalding about a year after I started there, they requested me to come to Kingston to go to midwifery school. I went there and I did the exam, did very well again. There was one girl, I don’t know where she came from, but she just came and she got first. And three of us, were second behind here. Because we were the ones always leading the class, so we were surprised when she got first. But anyway, we did very well. And went back to Spalding to work.

When you were in school were you involved in clubs after school or Girl Scouts?

Yes. We have 4 H Clubs and we have sewing clubs and we have cooking clubs. I remember I used to make corn meal pudding and I like the teacher, the headmaster’s wife very much. And I always made her pudding while I didn’t do that for the other teachers. But I like that one very much. She was very nice.

Did she enjoy your pudding?

Oh, yes, oh, yes. She kept getting it week after week or whenever we made it. I am certain many of the others wanted some, too. But she was my special person.

So maybe she was a little bit like a mentor for you, too?

Yes, she was because she was the teacher who taught A Class which was the beginners which here would be like kindergarten. She was the kindergarten teacher. So she was like the teacher that mentored the young kids and she did a very good job of it. At that time, even at that age, I realized she was doing a very good job and I just liked her a lot.

Do you remember her name?

Her name was Ettie Sylvester. We called her Miss Ettie. But she was Ettie Sylvester and she was the headmaster’s wife.

What a good memory you have, especially when someone has made a difference in your life.

Thank you. Yes, that’s very important, Thank you.

You talked about your training for nursing school and becoming a midwife and the training for that. How did you happen to migrate to the United States, how did that happen?

Well, my friends were coming to the United States. And a friend of mine gave me an application to New York Hospital. I didn’t know what she was doing or anything. Anyway, I filled it out and they replied and they told me what to do: Go to Immigration. And I got a visa and I got to come to America. And I came in the Saturday, the 20th of January, 1968 and I started working the 22nd of January, 1968. They had all my papers, my Social Security, everything ready and waiting for me to work. Needless to say it was cold in New York City and I’d never experienced that cold before, but they had a tunnel. I lived in the nurses’ home at that hospital and they had a tunnel that we could walk from there to the hospital…

It’s great that everything was so well organized. What was it like for you starting work? Was it easy to get adjusted?

Yeah, it was pretty easy to get adjusted because as I said, thank God I chose nursing because as a child I wanted to do teaching. But when I started with the kids, I realized I couldn’t sing. And for the kids especially the younger ones you need to sing a lot to them. So I chose nursing because we had, at our school we had a nurse who was on staff and I got to like her very much. She was very stylish. You know, I just said, I think I’ll do nursing. I’m glad I chose nursing because I could come in the Saturday and start working the Monday as a nurse. As a teacher I couldn’t do that. I would have to learn the classroom, learn the children, learn the curriculum before I could do that. So I was very, very glad that I chose nursing.

Today nurses are in such high demand, was it like that at that time as well?

Yes, yes, it was. That’s why we could come in and have the visa and everything ready because they were in such demand. They were taking nurses from all over to work in New York City.

We’re in Central Florida now, we’re in Pine Castle which is right near Orlando, how did you happen to come to this area?

I was for some time in the New York Hospital. It was in the city and then I got another job at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn. And I was in New York for 19 years and then the cold, the ice. One year we had 18 inches of snow. And after that year, I said, oh, boy, it’s time to leave. And I had a friend that had moved to Florida in Orlando, too, and we corresponded. And we decided to move to Florida. So in 1989, I applied again to Orlando Regional Medical Center. They accepted my papers and when I came here, I got a job there. That’s how come I am in Florida.

That is such a big hospital. Was there much difference between the hospital that you came from and the hospital here?

Yes. There was great difference, great difference. I was at that hospital for about 15 years so I was a senior person there. I am accustomed to getting so many sick days, so many holidays, and so many different days off. When I came to Florida, we got only 12 days and 12 days included sick days, holidays, and your regular time off. So, I surely missed it. Plus, in New York I found the doctors were, how should I say, friendlier? They were friendlier than coming here. And I know many times when I would say to my friends, oh boy, this wouldn’t happen in New York. I was told many times to go back to New York. I always tell them I came here for the sunshine and as long as the sun shines I’m going to stay.

So you ended up retiring then from Orlando Health?

No, I stayed there for a certain time and then I had better opportunities. So I went to Florida Hospital in Kissimmee. And I worked there for ten years and yet a better one happened at Health Central. It’s a very pretty hospital in Ocoee. I always say I would love to work there and then although it was a little distance from where I lived I went there. And then I retired from Health Central after six years.

So that’s quite a career in nursing, isn’t it?

I think so. Nursing was very kind to me. Would you like me to tell you some things that I did?

Yes, that would be wonderful. It is such a valuable, it is such a significant occupation and the contribution that a good nurse makes to the world is incredible.

When I was in Jamaica I worked with children and I remembered we had a little boy named Alvin. Alvin was drawn by a truck, like he hopped unto a truck and fell off and he was dragged for three miles. So Alvin was very bruised and very hurt. Anyway, Alvin was on the ward and I was on that ward and we just developed a good relationship. And one nurse and myself, one registered nurse, because then I was a student nurse, and myself could do Alvin’s dressing. And when I’m not on duty, two regular RN’s couldn’t do it because Alvin would not let them do it. When it was my day off I would go on and visit Alvin. I would take him food because his parents lived very far from the hospital. So I had a relationship with him. So unfortunately, I moved on so I left Alvin there.

President of the Central Florida Operating Room Nurses

And then when I was at Brooklyn Jewish, I was nominated for Nurse of the Year one year for the operating room. And then I came when I was at Florida Hospital in Kissimmee I was nominated as the President of the Central Florida Operating Room Nurses from 2000 to 2001 where I was the president for all the hospitals in Central Florida. And I went to conferences all over the place, California, Atlanta, and you know. But I remember the year that I was nominated president was 2000 – 2001 that we were in California and it was a big do for the presidents to walk up. So we had some very good times. Yes. And then I stilled continued with AORN, but just as a member.

Well, thank you for sharing that because it is such an important history not just in terms of your history, but in terms of the impact and the service, the influence, the mentorship, and the standards that you’ve set to be nominated for those important offices…

How did you happen to get involved with the Pine Castle Woman’s Club? Did that come after you retired?

I heard about it before I retired because I was a member of the John Calvin Presbyterian Church and the woman’s club were run by all the members of John Calvin Presbyterian Church. And I said I live a little bit away from here I hope I’ll be able to be a member there. Anyway, when I retired in 2006, between 2006 – 2008, I was invited. In those days you couldn’t just come to the club or something, you had to be invited. And I was invited by one of the members of the church to come and join the club. When I came the president then was Margaret Leengran, a very stately, lovely lady that was loved by everybody.

Pine Castle Woman’s Club President Myra Moreland and Honorable Linda Chapin

And then, she did her two years and then Myra Moreland, she was an engineer. She worked for the city and she became the president. And I became the first vice president. I worked with her. There were many times when I did as vice president I was able to go out and meet everybody and lots of people. I met Linda Chapin, she was the commissioner then. And we had her speak at the Pine Castle Woman’s Club. So that was a good time for me because I got a chance to meet a lot of people. And the club took many shapes.

$1,500 for the Club with Game Day

Ms. Moreland wanted me to be president after her but while she was president I did a lot of her work, a lot of work, and realized that you need a second person. You cannot just be president. You need a very strong person to work with you. And since I did most of her president work, when her time was up and it came for me to be president I decided not to do that. But I’ve done every other job at the club. Before now, one of the big things I did at the club, we usually have a yearly game show. And we had people from as far as Wisconsin that came in and joined with our group. I remember one year we made $1,500 dollars in one day for the club which benefitted the club. I am still interested in games, but because of Covid and all that happened, we haven’t started back our annual Game Day. But we have a Fun and Games which meets on the fourth Thursday of each month. Most of the ladies play Bunco. And they come in and they support the club that way. So a little game is still going on, but not the game that we had a few years ago.

The money you said goes to support the club… do they support the community?

Yes, they do, especially The Russell Home. During those days most of the money we made went to The Russell Home. Now we have different groups that the money goes to, but during those times it was mostly The Russell Home. And, of course, we had things like Orlando Rescue Mission, then. The club used to support Orlando Rescue Mission and a few more places they supported. They’re always helping out the community.

And that’s The Russell Home for Atypical Children, so children who have severe disabilities, right?

Yes. They have very severe disabilities, but the club just chose to work with them. And some of the people from there, the young ladies would come and dance for us at Christmas. You know, I remember one time we had a Valentine’s Dance for them. They came and they had a good time, you know. But we were always supporting that group more than anybody else, yes.

And the community in this area is connected and knows about the activities, knows about how you work to support The Russell Home and these different organizations, right?

Yes. The community supports us. Anything we’re having, they’re glad to come and people donate a lot, especially their dishes. And as long as they know The Russell Home is involved they are for it. So, yes, and the community, we have also a church here. And they support that, too. And the church also, the pastor works at The Russell Home. He’s one of the helpers there, so, yes. The community is very involved and they very much support the club because of what the club is doing for the community.

Have you made new friends here?

Oh, yes. I’ve made many friends, many friends. I would prefer not to mention their names, but, you know, so many friends. And I’ve invited so many ladies to come and join, you know, through the church and everything. One joined and she was responsible for the Essay [Contest] and she did very well with that. I had another one then joined and she was also on the board. You know, everybody came and they work very well. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay as long as I stayed. They either got older or some died or they chose to do something else. But I’ve invited a lot of people and I’ve made a lot of friends. And some are still my friends. And a few years ago, just after the Covid, I met a very nice lady and we became very close friends during Covid and we were able to go out and to socialize with each other. I thought that was one of the best friendships I have had from the club.

Pine Castle Woman’s Club Ball

And we have had people who are well known in the club. And they have, one of the best things we have done was a few years ago we were making, trying to make extra money and we had a ball at one of the club members house. It is on the lake and we got a chance to dress up and it was really a high quality performance and we had the band and we had the people in tuxedos. I mean, it was a well, well dressed top of the line event. And we made money for the club also. So we have been doing a lot of good things in the community. And as I said, anything that I mentioned, as long as we are doing something for the community, and for the Russell Home, the community supports us.

And some of the activities that you have here, I understand you have a tea room? Would you tell us about that?

Oh, yes. The Corner Rose Tea Room Orlando, not to be bias but I consider it the best tea room in Orlando. And I’ve been to tea rooms in England, I’ve been to tea rooms in Atlanta and other places and I still come back and say my little Corner Rose Tea Room is the best tea room to me.

This tea room was at The Russell Home and I remember going there for tea one day for them to show us what happens. And all that tea happened in one room. One room. So, at one time they couldn’t continue with it and they asked if the club could take it over. Some of the ladies gladly, I remember not to call their names, two ladies who gladly joined. And one of the ones who came to help with the tea room she’s still helping now because she has the means to carry the tea room and to do very good things. So it’s still going .At the tea room here we have tea at least on Saturdays by invitation (reservations) and on a day of the week; we usually do it on Tuesdays long time ago… But right now on Saturdays and other times, Mother’s Day. The Red Hatter’s and all different groups come.

Pine Castle Woman’s Club President Vivian Oviedo and Painting Classes

And this year, in particular, the club has been very, very busy. You know we have a president who is involved in a lot of things. She says yes to everything. We’ve been doing painting classes. We’ve been doing everything, almost everything.

Do you have crafts that you sell? Art contests? Chili Cookoff, Bake Sale, a little boutique, a garage sale?

Oh, yes, we crafts that is the arts that people do. Oh, yes, they have a chili contest, each year they have a chili cookoff. Oh, yes, we have bake sales here, too. And then we have, the club also has a little boutique run by one of the members, very elegant. And we sell clothes, too, used things. We have a lot of garage sales. I remember in the time when Miss Moreland was in charge, many times that was how we made our money, through the garage sales.

So people donate to the club, so that you sell it and then the money goes back to support the club and The Russell Home.

And the community, yes. The projects we have, yes.

And, I hope this isn’t a rude question, but all this work that you are doing here is volunteer work, right?

Yes, we are all volunteers. And, you know, it’s all volunteer. We come in and we give of our time and of our energy. Right now, I help with the Tea Room whenever there’s a tea, on Fridays I come for setup. We set up the whole place and oh, it’s so beautiful when it’s all done. So pretty. And, then on Saturdays we come back to serve the people and we have to leave the place – most of us stay until all the work is done.

Ronald McDonald’s House

You know, so we volunteer there and Ronald McDonald’s House we volunteer there, too. That we volunteer at. And, right now we have about four different ministries that the club gives money to. And they are doing it very well because there is so much activity that goes on.

You mentioned the Ronald McDonald House that’s here in Central Florida and then those four ministries are also here in Central Florida.

Right. One of them is Russell Home, of course.

You know, you are quite a leader. You have this whole career of serving as a Nurse and then to have the leadership and the service here in the Club. Do many of the women have a background in leadership? Like you mentioned one of them was an engineer.

Yes, most of the ladies here have been teachers, nurses, social workers. They all are and they all put in tons of hours. They also are very good at crafts. The one in charge of the boutique, she likes to do that dress up and display the elegancy of the products she’s selling. Yes, each person here is well trained and has good leadership abilities. The one who prepares the food for the tea, she comes from another state and in that state she caters to hundreds of children each year with her tea. And sometimes I heard her say, all this is done by just my sister and I which is quite a feat. Because here we have a few volunteers.

It sounds like you create many happy memories for people, like you said that people come to the club. But do you have birthday party teas and people come and you said there were some dances like The Russell Home came and danced?

Oh, yes, and even some people came, one of the best parties I’ve remembered, we have Bridgerton. The one they dress up in the clothes and everything. We had a party here. We had the district GFWC [General Federation of Women’s Clubs], we catered to them also. So we have their meetings here. And, you know, the club is also rented. So people can rent it for their birthday parties, for their anniversaries. One of their groups that’s regularly here are the Red Hatters. They are always here as far as from the Villages to have a tea or two per year. Well attended.

So it sounds to me like it’s a woman’s club, but it very much reaches throughout the whole Central Florida area in so many different ways with the different organizations that you’re serving and people that you’re serving. So it goes beyond the membership of people who are here.

Oh, yes, it does. And I think that is what we wanted to do because GFW of which we are a member, [Greater Federation of Women’s Clubs}; we are a member of them, we are a section of them, which is all over America. And we are, under District 7 with them.

Annual Craft Project

We have a craft project every year and it started here in the club. It’s judged here and all the first place crafts go to the district. And if it’s first place again at the district, then it goes to GFW which is the state. And we have had a few entries in that of which we are very proud.

Have you done crafts?

Yes, funny you should ask. I have done crafts and I am proud to say, I think I am the first one in this generation that I can think of was entered into the craft. I did crochet, I make village people, and the last time I made embroidery. And I have gone to state a few times. One time with my people, I got a first place award at state. Here at the district in my crochet I got the “Best of Projects”. We continue to compete until last Saturday we were at GFW, which meets at the Rosen every year. And a few members were here and we exhibited our projects.

Well, that’s wonderful isn’t it?

Yes. We are very proud, very happy. And to know, everybody working together for the good of Central Florida or this community.

In other words, you’ve attended the General Federation of Women’s Club Events, right? What are they like?

Yes. They are, I’ve been to the district, if the district is having an event, we’ve gone to them. They’re okay. They always have food. They have a lot of food and they are very welcoming. And we always leave feeling good. The other day we attended a fashion show to make money for the Vets, for the Veterans. And we were there and we love when a lot of people from our group goes because that shows that we’re well represented and the groups appreciate it, too. But they are always very welcoming and they want us to come back. And you know the best part is usually their fashion show or if we are going to a district event, but those are the ones that are best attended by us. We really like going to them.

So it sounds like its inspiring.

Oh, yes. And of course we get ideas from them so we can bring back to us. And also, we give them ideas. A a lot of them are beginning to start to do teas or they want to do fashion shows or they want to do something, because we inspire them. I think our club is at a point where we inspire them. But then there is a club, I think it is the Oviedo Club which has a show where they sell things, I think it is one Saturday a year. I think in November and they can take in over $100,000.00 in one day. So I am still fascinated by that. I still want to go to that club to see what they do, but it’s like all of Oviedo is closed down that Saturday just so they can do what they have to do.

468 Exhibitions at the Craft Convention

But there’s a lot to be inspired by, by what they do. Yes, and I can tell you that last Saturday at the craft convention they had over 468 exhibitions. And they were top class. They were top class that when you think that I’m going to crochet something in there, you have to think twice of what you want to do because of the quality of the things that are there. It’s not just passing a needle again, you have to think about what you are doing in order to be counted there. Yes, very inspirational.

I think we’ve talked a lot about the club and some of your experiences, is there a special memory that you might have… here in your years in the club that maybe you did something or interacted with someone that really touched you?

Yes. There was a member here, her name was Noles, Miss Roxanne Knolls. She was an entertainer and a few years ago we were at the club and I knew she was an entertainer because I heard she entertained in the city. And we were having meetings here and there was no entertainment, no – I just thought we could give the members more. And I asked her, you know, I started something singing, and she came and she helped me and she got her group. And it so happened that she had a dance class here, that’s where her dance class came from by us saying to her let’s do something. Can you do something for the club? Just her realizing that I was trying to do something and she with her talents came and made it so good. She had members who were attending her classes here for some time. And she was so appreciative I can remember the necklace and the earring that she gave me one time. Yes, that was very good.

And that probably brought a lot of joy to the club members.

Yes, oh, yes. Because each time they look forward – it was Cindy. It was Ruthie, you know. I could name some of the people who did it and they really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, she got sick after that and left and had to stop. But I know that she was greatly missed. She was greatly missed.

This club has been very good to me and I have very good memories here. I enjoy a lot of the activities here. I still do. Yes.

And so as I mentioned in the beginning, this is the 85th year of the Pine Castle Woman’s Club. They are celebrating an anniversary this year. What do you see as the future? It’s a service organization, right? Do you think it will continue? It’s been growing, hasn’t it?

Yes, yes. I hope it will continue. Oh, definitely. And, you know one of our members has started a historical society which is a branch of this club. And I just hope the history club will continue or get started, they are still working on it – that the history of Pine Castle Club will continue. I know people want this service so much and I’m certain each person that comes in will work to make it a service oriented place and make it an even better service oriented place than we have now.

Male Members Support the Pine Castle Woman’s Club

I remember, I hope it’s okay calling his name, but while I was in Membership I was Membership Chair, we had a young man, he was a commissioner. And he came to the club. His wife was a member of the club and he came to the club and I said, “We need members. You’re a man, but we need members.” And he decided to join. And he joined and then after that we had two other men join. And presently we have four men who are members of the club. So, I thought that was really, really, really nice. I hope we don’t have to continue taking men, because right now our attendance is getting better. We have more people joining. I just like to ask everybody to invite somebody to attend the Pine Castle Woman’s Club. We meet the second Wednesday of each month. And we are doing a lot of good things and we need your help.

Well thank you so much for speaking with us today…

Thank you very much for coming. Thank you for your interview…

Interview: Minnette Mullings

Interviewer: Jane Tracy

Date: April 30, 2025

Place: Pine Castle Woman’s Club