Service Day 2023

On an overcast and drizzly-looking November 15th of 2023, GGIA members and Agricultural Educators from across the state gathered in Covington, Georgia, at the FFA/FCCLA Building at FFA Camp Covington to install a landscape and host the 2023 GGIA Service Day. The FFA/FCCLA Building is an indoor arena used by FFA students from across the state and the citizens of Newton County for agricultural events.

The opportunity to help with this landscape came about earlier in the spring when Charles Berry, a retired Christmas tree farmer and member of the Ag Center Board as the representative from Newton County Farm Bureau, reached out to GGIA Executive Director Lanie Riner to ask about the possibility of getting some plants donated to improve the front of the Center. Riner presented the idea to the GGIA Board of Directors, who quickly decided they would like to do more than donate the plants. They wanted to plan a GGIA Service Day at the Center, which would benefit the many users of the Center and demonstrate the importance and necessity of landscapes and green infrastructure. Since the Center was at the FFA Camp, GGIA Directors wanted to connect the Service Day with something to benefit Agricultural Education and to promote the Green Industry to students and the citizens of Newton County. GGIA Board Member and FFA Central Region Horticulture Teacher Melissa Riley helped connect and facilitate the two ideas that shaped the 2023 GGIA Service Day.