Growing for generations to come

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It’s hard to imagine, but there are probably places in this country where people just don’t pay that much attention to pine trees. Unbelievable !  But if you were born here or migrated here by whatever means or circumstance, you naturally understand that names like Pine Street, Loblolly Drive, Ponderosa Drive, Pinetucky Road, Pinebrook Park and on and on didn’t just randomly float down out of the sky. They are here because pine trees are revered in Emanuel County kinda like cows are considered royalty in India. It just comes with the territory. And if you’ve been around long enough, you know it’s just as normal a part of life here as the air and the dirt and the way we talk. So of course, it’s very normal that we celebrate pine trees every year on the first Saturday in May with firetrucks, log trucks, beauty queens, Smokey the Bear, sometimes a real bear, even a camel one year, military bands, Shriners, live music and lots of food. We celebrate what has become a major economic pillar of not only our county but of this region and state. We have done it every year now since 1946 except for a slight interruption from Covid in 2020.  Some years it's more glorious than others, but it still remains the longest running festival in Georgia. Before the festival was organized, however, pines were a disappearing commodity. In the early part of the century, it was more common to see forest burned and land cleared to make room for cotton and tobacco farming. Fortunately, programs of the US Forestry Service and public conservation campaigns began to change perceptions about pines.  When pines forests became more and more marketable for turpentine, naval stores, and building products, the tide started to turn. Back in the 30's a brilliant Georgia chemist, Dr. Charles Herty had developed a process for turning pine pulp into white paper and the Union Bag Company built its Savannah paper plant. That gave pine trees new life. And it also gave Savannah and Brunswick a new smell. We always thought that's just what the Atlantic ocean smelled like.  But that’s ok. For pine trees, it smelled like success, and from there on it was steady progress for forest products in the Southeast. Today Emanuel County and 5 neighboring counties are known in the timber business as “the woodbox” of the Southeast because of the overwhelming amount of timber production that comes from here. So, as we prepare for the 75th Pine Tree Festival this weekend, let’s give a nod to the Festival organizers for continuing a tradition of celebrating this extraordinary resource. Let’s also thank all the hundreds of people employed here in the industry who grow, manage, harvest and transport this "crop of the forest”.  The value of pine forest production to Emanuel County has come a long way since 1946.  And with all of the on-going research in biofuels, pine-related plastics, hybrid timber, and so much more, its clear to see that the future for the green pinetree is golden and growing for generations to come.  Enjoy the Pine Tree Festival celebration and be safe !