THOMAS COUNTY, GA — Community leaders in Thomas County gathered at Pebble Hill to dedicate a plaque honoring the “Baby Big Oak,” grown from an acorn of the historic Big Oak to carry on its legacy for generations.
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When your parent is one of the most famous trees in town, the pressure is on.
At Pebble Hill Plantation in Thomasville, community leaders dedicated a plaque Thursday to honor the next generation of the Big Oak—a tree grown from an acorn of the legendary 300-year-old live oak that has become a symbol of the city.
"The big oak is one of the oldest live oak trees this east of the Mississippi. It's over 300 years old. It's a treasure of our community. It's been protected for years and years, and this tree behind me was grown from a seedling of that tree," Thomasville Mayor Scott Chastain said.
The Big Oak's story isn't ending anytime soon.
What people are now calling the "Baby Big Oak" actually started as one of the acorns Carol Singletary picked up under that famous tree—the same tree she grew up climbing at her grandparents' house.
"In 2005, I picked up some acorns underneath the oak one fall, put them in a little plastic baggie, and just put the bag on my desk and forgot about it. And it was in the sunshine, and the next thing I knew, the acorns had sprouted because it was warmed by the sun. And so then I took the acorns that had sprouted and put them in little individual little greenhouses," Singletary said.
She handed a few of those tiny sprouts out to family including her sister, Rebecca Boswell.
"When I received it, it, well, when I received it, it was in a little small Dixie cup, and it was probably a couple of inches high. It was kind of puny looking and just a scrawny thing, but what it represented was so hugely important," Boswell said.
Boswell says she basically raised it like her own—watering it, checking on it, even talking to it. Slowly, that little "puny" sprout started to take off.
"It's like a little child that has been nurtured and it's growing, and the thing that makes it really special is to think that my grandchildren and their children will be able to see it when it really is a beautiful, old, mature oak," Boswell said.
Here's the remarkable part: this is the only one that survived.
The community gave it its official moment at Pebble Hill for Arbor Day. The ceremony featured a color guard, a proclamation from the mayor, garden clubs celebrating conservation and even third graders sharing artwork inspired by the tree.
If you want to see the Baby Big Oak for yourself, you can book a grounds tour at Pebble Hill and check it out up close.
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