I just returned from the Freedom Island Project - a memorial to 9/11 - in Douglasville. The "island" is actually a very large median in front of First Presbyterian Church on Campbellton Street.
Many volunteers from Keep Douglasville Beautiful and the West Georgia Green Association gave time to get the project completed in only two working days. Craig McManus of McPlants, a Georgia Certified Landscape Professional and WGGA member, created the new design for the island.
The area was swarming with volunteers in orange and yellow vests this morning. It was wonderful to see everyone working toward a common goal - to give a "community" memorial to 9/11.
NGT donated 2 pallets of TifBlair Centipede for the project. Many nurseries in the area donated plants, shrubs and trees. CitiTV was present to catch all of the action and interview the volunteers.
The memorial will stay but everything else around it will change. The beautification of the island will be celebrated year after year on 9/11 to commemorate the fallen. 9/11 brought many communities together in 2001 and it continues to do so in 2011.