On Valentine’s Day, Sallie Paschal, mathematics professor at the Newton Campus of Georgia State University, led an informal “daffodil walk.” The walk served as a prequel to the campus’ annual Daffodil Festival to be held this year on March 7 and 8. The theme this year is “Reflection and Growth.”
In her invitation to faculty, staff, students and friends, Paschal wrote, “As part of the Daffodil Festival tradition, I will be leading a ‘daffodil walk’ through the ‘original’ daffodils that inspired our festival ten years ago.”
The original daffodils number in the tens of thousands and are located in a little-visited corner of the 100-acre Newton campus. Paschal speculates they may have been planted by slaves in the 19th century; there were once two slave houses on the property that were moved to Stone Mountain.
The Daffodil Festival was started to honor Pierce Cline, a longtime friend of the college and campus and one of the community leaders who was instrumental in getting the campus located in Newton County.
Participants in the daffodil walk were encouraged to pick as many daffodils as they wanted for themselves or their valentines. Austin Brooks, a student from the Loganville area, picked a bouquet for his mother and said, “She’ll like them. Yellow is her favorite color.”
This year, Georgia State University’s Perimeter College is celebrating its 10-year of operations on the Newton Campus located east of Covington. Watch for stories and events related to the campus’ anniversary.
