THOMASVILLE — It’s not every year that an organization celebrates a centennial anniversary.

May 2021 marks Rotary Club of Thomasville’s 100th birthday, which the club intends to celebrate throughout the year.

Rotary Past President Jeff Zoller summed up the core spirit of the club. “Over the past 100 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.”

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

Keen observers might have noticed activity on the west side of Paradise Park a few weeks ago. A team of arborists took the better part of the week of Dec. 7 to plant 24 15-foot live oaks (Quercus virginiana,) a gift to the city from Thomasville 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 Council member Jay Flowers was instrumental in project coordination between the club and the city.

An ad hoc committee appointed by Brown to select the perfect gift was led by Zoller and composed of senior Rotary members John Glenn, Homer Pankey, Harry Tomlinson, Warren Stafford and Wayne Newsome.

After two years of careful thought and planning and a slate of about a dozen proposals, the committee selected a gift that will enrich the lives of Thomasvillians for generations — 24 live oak trees that will continue to provide beauty and grace to Thomasville’s focal green space, Paradise Park.

Thomasville’s Big Oak at the intersection of Crawford and Monroe streets is probably one of the most famous examples of a live oak, having stood its ground for more than 300 years.

The live oak, the Georgia state tree, 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 made of wood from live oak trees.

• Its acorns provide food for turkeys, quail, ducks, deer, squirrels and racoons, to name a few.

• The trees are highly adaptable to soil types and moisture conditions.

• Like all trees, live oaks cleanse the atmosphere, cool the environment, beautify surroundings and provide a habitat for animals, among many more attributes.