FAIRHOPE, Ala. — On Friday, Sept. 26, Tom Ellis, Fairhope Tree Committee president, presided over a tree dedication ceremony held on the original site of the Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education, which is now the home of the Fairhope branch of Faulkner State Community College.

Mayor Tim Kant assisted Ellis in dedicating a magnolia grandiflora planted at the request of the Marietta Johnson Museum and honoring the memory of Maxine Jowers Frederick.

Among other special species that were dedicated that afternoon were a sand live oak honoring Helen Porter Dyson and a scarlet oak planted in memory of Maude Etta Graham Timbes. The tree committee has now planted over 100 species of trees on what is called The Marietta Johnson Tree Trail, which is located on the 10-acre campus in downtown Fairhope.

Several individuals honored during the ceremony had long associations with the Organic School. Maxine “Macky” Frederick, who died in January, graduated from Organic in 1937. Her Organic School kindergarten sweetheart and husband of 65 years, Col. Paul A. Frederick III, represented her at the ceremony. Their daughter, Sam Frederick Reddy, and her husband, John, as well as many friends and other family members were also present for the dedication.

Col. Frederick is the great nephew of Organic School Founder Marietta Johnson. In the early days of the school, his mother, Esther Pierce Frederick, served as the school’s first secretary, and his father, Paul A Frederick Jr., was a faculty member, who taught both shop and folk dancing.

The crowd attending the dedication ceremony was awed by the presence of Helen Porter Dyson who celebrated her 100th birthday in August and who taught kindergarten, first and second grades at the Organic School during the 1920s and ’30s. Her son, Phillip Dyson, and daughter, May Moss Dyson Parker, both Organic School graduates, attended the ceremony as well as several of Mrs. Dyson’s former students, including Mawk Arnold, Graham Timbes and Paul Frederick. Timbes' wife, Maggie Mosteller, who serves as the Marietta Johnson Museum director, also attended the ceremony that honored Timbes' mother, Maude Etta Graham Timbes.

Mrs. Timbes, who died in January, had two daughters, Billye and Mary Lois, who both graduated from The Organic School. Mary Lois is a former director and board member of the Marietta Johnson Museum and a former board member of the Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education.

The Fairhope Tree Commission encourages donations to its on-going tree planting program. Individuals or organizations interested in having trees planted in memory or in honor of others should contact Ellis at 990-6049 or city of Fairhope Horticulturalist, Jennifer Fidler at 928-8003.