Bob Thompson pointed to a spot on one side of the Ocmulgee River, where his father worked as a manager at the old Sears-Roebuck store downtown.
Thompson then pointed to the other side of the river where the Wilson Convention Center, named for his father-in-law, still sits.
So it’s rather appropriate that Thompson, a law professor in Washington, D.C., would choose a spot right on the river to create a new program that will benefit the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail.
At a news conference Thursday, Thompson and the Friends of the Trail unveiled three new brandywine red maple trees that have been planted next to the parking lot at the Spring Street entrance to the trail, replacing three older, dying trees.
Thompson donated the new trees and paid for the removal of the old ones as part of the W. Early Thompson Tree Renewal Program, named for Bob Thompson’s father.
“I’d been gone from Macon for 40 years,” Thompson said. “I couldn’t believe (the trail) was here. We were able to hike all the way to the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds.”
Wimberly Treadwell, chairwoman of the board for the Friends of the Trail, said the group is seeking similar donations to preserve the trail’s tree canopy by clearing away various dead or dying trees along the trail, many of which were damaged during the flood of 1994.
Though many of the trees on the trail may look healthy, she said, the sick trees have rotted on the inside and often lose large branches.
Treadwell said the group is seeking donations of $2,000, which will clear away a dead tree and have it replaced with a young, living one.
It’s one of several projects along the trail. Karol Kelly, an agent of the University of Georgia’s Bibb County Extension Office, said there are 21 distinct species of trees on the trail and the Georgia Forestry Commission recently awarded a grant to educate people about the trail and identify trees along the trail.
For more information about the trail and the tree renewal program, visit www.ocmulgeeheritagetrail.com.
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