There’s an extravagant party to celebrate nature planned for Saturday at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens.
The Gardens of the World Ball is a sold-out, black tie affair where the state leaders and botanical garden supporters gather.
“It is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” said Wilf Nicholls, director of the botanical garden.
About 250 people are set to attend this year’s ball, the 32nd for the botanical garden.
The guests will sit down to eat in the conservatory in front of a view of hundreds of tropical and semi-tropical plants, garden pathways, waterfalls and pools. Later that night there will be music and dancing.
The event is meant to celebrate nature and raise money to continue the garden’s mission of preserving nature and helping others enjoy and learn about plants.
The event is predicted to raise about $200,000 through donations, Nicholls said.
All the money raised goes toward a fund being built for a $5 million children’s garden to be built at the preserve.
“By the end of the event, we hope we’ll be knocking on the door of the $4 million mark,” Nicholls said.
Construction is scheduled to begin on the children’s garden in 2017.
“Our philosophy is trying to reconnect children to nature, so there won’t be any touch screen TVs in our garden,” Nicholls said.
Instead, the children’s garden will feature diverse plants children can touch and learn about.
There will also be a canopy walk to allow children to walk high among the trees.
“There’s going to be an opportunity for kids to go underground and see how plants grow,” Nicholls said.
Children can learn about wetland areas, common to the South, and their importance.
“It’s also right here at the university, so it’s also an opportunity to teach future teachers in a garden setting and also an opportunity for them to see how children learn,” Nicholls said.
Fundraising for the children’s garden has been ongoing for three years, but Nicholls said he hopes to reach the $5 million goal in less than a year.
The attendees of the Gardens of the World Ball will help with that, he said.
They’ll be able to enjoy nature themselves at the event. There will be an overwhelming number of flowers inside and out, with all arrangements donated by Flowers, Inc. in Athens.
“It takes an amazing army of supporters to put this on, and we’re very thankful,” Nicholls said.
Follow reporter Hilary Butschek on Twitter @hilarylbutschek or at https://www.facebook.com/hbutschek.