It’s not every year that an organization celebrates its centennial anniversary. May 2021 will mark the Rotary Club of Thomasville’s 100th birthday which the club intends to celebrate all year long. Rotary Past President Jeff Zoller summed up the core spirit of the club and its membership when he said, “Over the past one hundred years the Club and its members have made significant and diverse service contributions to the city, with innumerable members involved in service projects to youth and the community. Members have served in diverse leadership roles within the business, education, medical, and government spheres, including members who have served in city, county, and state governments.”

To that spirit, President John Brown and his club members have a list of activities planned to celebrate this historic achievement, if current social conditions will allow. One such activity, a gift to our city, has already been successfully completed.

Keen observers may have noticed recent activity on the west side of Paradise Park a few weeks ago. A team of arborists took the better part of the week of December 7th to plant 24- 15-foot live oaks (Quercus virginiana,) a gift to the city from Thomasville’s Rotarians. At cost of $20,000, the trees were purchased from and planted by Lake Landscape, LLC of Whigham. The City of Thomasville will play a key role in ensuring the continued good health and growth of the trees by providing irrigation. Rotarian and Thomasville city councilman Jay Flowers was instrumental in project coordination between the club and the city.

An ad hoc committee appointed by President John to select the perfect gift was led by Past President Jeff Zoller, and composed of senior Rotary members John Glenn, Homer Pankey, Harry Tomlinson, Warren Stafford, and Wayne Newsome. After 2 years of careful thought and planning and a slate of approximately a dozen proposals, the committee selected a gift that will enrich the lives of Thomasvillians for generations, 24 live oak trees which will continue to provide beauty and grace to Thomasville’s focal green space, Paradise Park.

Thomasville’s Big Oak which stands at the corner of Crawford and Monroe Streets is probably one of our most famous examples of a live oak, having stood its ground for well over 300 years. The live oak, which is the state tree of Georgia, has many attributes: it is highly wind resistant; its wood is dense and strong and as such is responsible for the nickname “Old Ironsides” given to the naval frigate USS Constitution which was made of wood from live oak trees. Its acorns provide food for turkeys, quail, ducks, deer, squirrels, and racoons, to name a few. These trees are highly adaptable to soil types and moisture conditions. All of this said, we should not forget the importance of trees to our existence in general. They cleanse our atmosphere, cool our environment, beautify our surroundings, provide a habitat for animals, and so much more.