Groups of excited students from schools across Chatham County converged at Lake Mayer on Thursday. Some wore gloves, ready for the fun that awaited.
They walked along the bike path in boisterously noisy lines, passing freshly planted Camellias as they walked. When they arrived at their destination, dermatologist Dr. Sidney Smith, the master gardener who organized the planting event through the Cohen’s Retreat Foundation, awaited with a big smile and a shovel, eager to teach them how to plant their very own camellia.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
The event was the first planting day of six that are scheduled as a part of the Savannah Camellia Project. By the end of their shift, students had dug a hole, planted a camellia tree, and left a tag with their name on it around one of the branches of each Royal Velvet Camellia. The goal is to plant nearly 2,000 of the camellias around Lake Mayer and along the Truman Linear Trail, from Montgomery Crossroad all the way to DeRenne Avenue.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Elementary and middle School students from Savannah Chatham County Public Schools and area Private schools are participating in the project, which is expected to be completed by mid November. There are plans already in place to celebrate the new plantings in February, when they should be in bloom. The first annual Savannah Camellia Festival is set to take place on Saturday, February 24, 2024. Festivities will kickoff with a 5K race/walk along the trial, followed by a parade through Magnolia Park, where a variety of Camellias were planted earlier this year. The main event will be the Coastal Georgia Camellia Society Bloom Show, which will also include a plant sale at Cohen's Retreat.
Richard Burkhart is the visual journalist for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at RBBurkhart@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Students help plant Camellias around Lake Mayer as a part of the Savannah Camellia Project
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