‘Season of Joy’ at Georgia College: Decking the Halls with Dr. Whipple

  • A 22-foot tall Christmas tree rises through the central rotunda in Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion. CAROLINE WOOD/GCSU
    A 22-foot tall Christmas tree rises through the central rotunda in Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion. CAROLINE WOOD/GCSU
  • Students, staff and fellow Milledgeville Garden Club members take a break from decorating to gather around Dr. Harriett Whipple, center front. ANNA GAY LEAVITT/GCSU
    Students, staff and fellow Milledgeville Garden Club members take a break from decorating to gather around Dr. Harriett Whipple, center front. ANNA GAY LEAVITT/GCSU

    Dr. Harriett Whipple, professor emerita, has been decorating Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion since the early 1980s. She used to help Sue Speir, wife of Georgia College & State University past President Edwin Speir Jr., decorate back when the mansion was still used as the president’s residence.

    “It was nothing like it is today,” Whipple said. “Back then, we had a few Milledgeville Garden Club v…