Fernandina Beach Main Street
Press Release
Submitted by Arlene Filkoff
December 10, 2020
The local Camellia Garden Club, a group founded in Fernandina in 1939, has donated an educational sign in the Butterfly Garden downtown. This club which has now retired its organization, contacted Main Street about the possibility of placing a more permanent recognition of their contributions over the years. Our butterfly garden, implemented by Main Street, contains plantings which specifically attract butterflies. We worked with the City, Liberty Landscaping, Imetry and Lindy’s to create a spot downtown for quiet reflection. This garden won a Secretary of State award last year for the partnership of all these groups. Now the Camellia Garden Club adds this sign which explains the plantings and their attraction.
Betty Waas became a member around 1955 and Carol L. Decker- Higginbotham served as most recent President of the Club. Her late husband Jim B. Higginbotham was the Project Manager for the revitalization of Centre St in the 1970’s and later served as the City’s Director of Public Works. This project is memorialized in “Saving Fernandina” a book, written by Suanne Z. Thamm and sold by Main Street.
The Camellia Garden Club recently donated memorabilia from their club activities to the Amelia Island Museum of History.
What a beautiful spot and the sign really adds to the beauty as well as providing education. Congratulations on the project and thank you!