[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5484]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CALLAWAY GARDENS 50TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MAC COLLINS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 23, 2002

  Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, on May 21, 2002 one of Georgia's treasures 
will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Created as a place ``prettier than 
anything since the Garden of Eden,'' Cason and Virginia Callaway 
envisioned a verdant preserve of some of the most beautiful flora and 
fauna in our Nation. Today, Callaway Gardens is all of that and so much 
more.
  Featuring the world's largest man-made inland, white-sand beach, a 
world-class resort, the world's largest azalea garden, acclaimed golf, 
birds of prey program, and a collection of plumleaf azaleas, a plant 
which the Callaway's rescued from the verge of extinction, Callaway 
Gardens has been a place of relaxation and beauty for generations of 
Americans.
  Keats once wrote,

     A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
     Its loveliness increases; it will never
     Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
     A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
     Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

  That is the most appropriate description I have ever heard for 
Callaway Gardens.
  As the family of Cason and Virginia Callaway celebrate the 50th 
anniversary of their parents' dream, I congratulate them for continuing 
to make that dream a reality. A friend of farmers, environmentalists, 
and those who appreciate beauty, the Callaways have crafted a marvel of 
modern day horticulture and botany in the midst of rural Georgia. I am 
pleased to represent the people who work at and lead Callaway Gardens, 
and I am pleased that such a thing of beauty is located in the Third 
District of the great State of Georgia.

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