By Jeff Whitten,

Special to the Herald

Among the displays Saturday at Effingham Georgia Green's Earth Day Festival 2025 in Guyton were a pair of booths sitting side by side, inside of which volunteers demonstrated the impacts of noise and light pollution.
Some six miles away in Springfield, the Effingham Historical Society's annual Olde Effingham Days festival harkened back to a time before electric lights dimmed the stars and the roar of traffic drowned out the songs of birds.
Both events drew large and seemingly appreciative crowds.

“Not many counties have what we have,” said Chris Conner after he and his son Coleman gave a reporter a lift back to his pickup parked outside the Old Effingham Days festival. “As much as this county’s changing and evolving, and being industrialized as much as it is, the fact we are able to still hold on to some of it and preservation still keeps it alive, everybody needs to appreciate it, because there’s going to be a day it’s not there.”

Conner, an Effingham County native with roots stretching back to the Salzburgers at Ebenezer, said the turpentine still coils on display on the grounds of the Effingham History Museum were from his family’s farm off Highway 119, parts of which still exist

“This history is going away,” he said. “You don’t see this anymore, so the fact there are people dedicated to preserving this history and it is advertised to invite other people in to share it, that’s a special thing in today’s world.”

Sharing history is the motivation for Olde Effingham Days, according to Beverly Poole, curator of the Effingham Museum Living History Site and a member of the first four-year graduating class at Effingham County High School, which opened its doors in 1956.

The festival itself is in its 20th year and takes place on the grounds of the museum, which includes a working sawmill, a blacksmith’s shop, an old turpentine still as well as a grist mill and old homes from the 1700 and 1800s from a time when there wasn’t electricity or running water or a supermarket just down the street.

In addition to music, food and a number of vendors hawking a variety of items, the Davis Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans demonstrated musket and cannon firing while not far away Fay Daley, Thomas DeLoach and Rhaelin Doige picnicked in Victorian-era dress around a campfire. The most frequent question they got asked from visitors?

“Are you hot in all those clothes,” DeLoach said. “We get asked that more than anything else.”

Poole said the event tells an important story.

“(The Old Effingham Days Festival) tells the story of what our grandparents and their parents did, how they lived and some of the things they had to go through when they were coming up,” Poole said. “Our old houses here are set up just how they lived, without bathrooms, without running water. We’d like all our young people to know we couldn’t just run to the store to pick up items to eat. We had to grow our food. We had to take it and cook it … we just want people to see a little bit of history.”

 June Reno, 15, a student at Effingham County High School, said she appreciates the past. Her mother is a Gnann, one of Effingham’s oldest families who operated a saw mill for generations. What her ancestors lived through and the role they played in local history gives her pride, she added.

“It’s crazy to see how much life has changed over the years,” Reno said. “It’s hard to imagine having to do all this.”

Cole Edwards, meanwhile, had something else on his mind at Olde Effingham Days. 

“I’d like you to advertise that Mack’s Service Station has the best peanuts in the city of Guyton,” he said. “They’re $5 a bag and they’re the best boiled peanuts in the city.”

Meanwhile in Guyton …

Over in Guyton, vendors participating in the Sale on the Trail lined the Guyton Walking Trail, where, at about 9:20 a.m., the Giant Insect Parade kicked off Earth Day Festival 2025.

Decked out as a giant green praying mantis, Mike Gerwig, chairman of the city of Guyton’s planning commission, seemed somewhat bemused by whatever series of events led to his participation in the parade, but noted the importance of the day.

“We’re here to bring attention to the fact of trees, and grass, and the environment,” he said. “With the expansion of Effingham County being so rapid, we don’t want to lose stuff. We want to keep it ‘treed,’ if that’s a word. This is a good cause. This really is a good cause.”

It was also a good time, attendees said.

“We love this,” said Courtney Nash from Richmond Hill as she, her husband Blake and children Parker and Meredith wound their way through the various events. “We’ve never been to the area before. It’s great.”

Brian Chester, of Guyton, also was with family – including his wife Ashely and 16-month-old daughter Wesleigh. His son Jackson was among the Effingham College and Career Academy students in John Cassell’s entomology class to participate in the festival.

“We’ve come to this festival most years, and really look forward to it,” Brian said. “It’s a good cause and a good reason to get out of the house on a Saturday.”

Also attending was Robin Heath and her granddaughter Kennedie, who both gave the festival a thumbs up.

Kennedy said she learned a great deal about water systems from the Ogeechee Riverkeeper, while her grandmother, who recently retired from the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit, called the event “wonderful.”

Among the events for kids of all ages was the opportunity to paint paper-mâché globes under the guidance of artist and antique dealer Paul Lindsay of Springfield.

“It’s a way to take some old paper and make something out of it,” he said. “It’s for big kids, little kids, grown-up kids.”

Nearby, the first biodegradable Easter egg hunt took place at 11 a.m. Roughly a dozen kids and their parents hunted a number of candy-sized paper-mâché Easter eggs created by STEM students at Guyton Elementary. Nolan McGowan, 4, found the golden egg, which won him an Easter basket.

Each egg had a seed inside, so those that weren’t found Saturday would eventually become wildflowers – something Robin Heath said she hopes to see growing at the next Earth Day festival.

That sentiment might’ve been music to the ears of Rita Elliott, co-organizer of the event with Maggie Kelly.

“It’s been great,” she said, shortly after the Easter egg hunt. “It’s an absolutely beautiful day to be out in nature. It’s perfect for Earth Day, and we’ve seen families, adults, children, business people, and they all seem to be enjoying themselves and hopefully they all take away some of the message of what we’re trying to do and how they can be a part of saving Effingham County’s environment.”

Elliott acknowledged other festivals happening in the county on Saturday – Olde Effingham Days in Springfield and the Effingham Artists art show at Beulah House, also in Guyton.

“Some people might think it’s a lot of competition, but it’s a beautiful day and there’s enough time to celebrate our art and history and planet. It’s a whole day of festivals, and that’s a wonderful way to spend the day.”