History
History tells us that Apopka, Florida, was often called “The Big Potato”. The earliest known inhabitants of the Apopka area were the Acuera people, members of the Timucua confederation. The Acuera were succeeded by refugees from Alabama and Georgia, who formed the new Seminole Indian tribe. They called the area Ahapopka. Aha, meaning “Potato,” and papka, meaning “eating places”.
Our Team
Aimee Jordan: Executive Director
Aimee graduated from LSU with a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology/Human Movement. Most of her experience has been in the medical field creating wellness programs and rehabilitative exercise programs with a focus on natural and holistic medicine.Although her background is in the sciences, her true passion and recent work has been in the arts and art production. Aimee has managed our puppetry division, bringing the Endangered Species Parade and Ibex Puppetry shows to Florida and beyond.Aimee owns an event management company, Unfurl, and serves Central Florida in designing, planning, and running events. This skill is invaluable to The Big Potato, as much of what we do involves creating community events for networking, sharing, giving, educating, and entertaining.Aimee is currently spearheading our cafe and retail project at our Station Street studio location! We can look forward to a new cafe and art and foliage market that delivers great food, coffee, juice, plants, and art in a setting full of old Apopka charm!
Pam Welker: Charitable Director,
Founder of Extended Hand Outreach
Pam regularly offers food donations for the hungry, clothing and school supplies for disadvantaged children and support for the homeless. She spends many days coordinating with donors and making sure their generosity benefits those who need it most.
Having developed a robust relationship with the Apopka community and the businesses and organizations that feed it, Pam is incredibly resourceful and boundlessly tenacious in identifying where needs exist in Apopka and finding a way to fill them. When Apopka needs help, Pam Welker finds a way to provide it!
Recently nominated for a Sertoma Service to Humanity award, Pam works tirelessly to get Apopkans what they need. From free yard sales to shoe and clothing giveaways to searching for transportation solutions to connecting people with healthcare and other resources, Pam never stops giving back, and is a true gift to Apopka!
David Jordan: Creative Director
David graduated with a BFA from the University of Florida, and has spent a lifetime in television, film, and theme parks like Universal and Disney as a prop and puppet artist. David believes in exploring and experiencing high human ideas like grace and child spirit. Committed to building community through creativity, David continues to push us forward with new ideas to bring people together in ways that inspire and educate.
Known for his work on Pee Wee’s Playhouse, All That, Sullivan and Son, Big, Big World, and countless other television shows and movies, David is a true artist at heart, with a broad range of knowledge and skills across all mediums of visual arts, theater, and film.
Like the rest of the Jordan family, David is an Apopka native and loves to explore the rich heritage of Florida and weave it into our creative programs.
David has a passion for ecology and environment, and has created a number of products to forward these concepts. With the support of Heather Henson’s Ibex Puppetry, David has designed our Endangered Species puppets for our Procession of the Species parades and Ibex’s theatrical shows.
You can now find him playing the role of Otis the Tooting Otter, Ambassador of Nature as he explores various aspects of Apopka and Central Florida life from the perspective of the animal kingdom!
Peter Jordan: Director -
The Big Potato Foundation Cultural Council
Peter is an 8th generation Floridian, raised in the foliage industry in Apopka, FL. Peter has a BA in Speech Communication from Louisiana State University, and is an educator with 21 yrs experience teaching Agriculture and Agriscience. Peter is the force behind The Apopka Billie Dean Community Garden and all of the activity and education surrounding it. A master gardener and an encyclopedia of knowledge, Peter brings Apopka community members together to practice, celebrate, and spread awareness about one of the world’s most vital subjects and Apopka’s root industry, agriculture.
Peter educates, inspires, and motivates students of all ages to understand and appreciate where our food comes from and how to grow it sustainably. He continues to collaborate with the City of Apopka as well as great organizations such as 4 Roots to provide not only a space for people to grow food , but to learn and teach our community about the various methods of growing food and the supply chain surrounding it. HIs experience and knowledge in agriculture and education is a cornerstone for The Big Potato!
Bunky Garrabrant:
General Administrative Director
Bunky graduated with a BS in English from Illinois State University, and after teaching English in Illinois, she moved to Florida in the 1990s to run retail businesses in the craft and nursery and academic markets with a specialty in operations management, project management, and training and development.
Currently self-employed as a small business owner and a musician, she volunteers as the go-to person to help develop new projects and programs and to push the organization forward.