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Rare plants given a new home
GSU, Ga. DNR save and relocate pitcher plant bog
Georgia Southern students Brandon McMaster, 21, of Alpharetta, left, and Teresa Popp, 22, of Belvidere, Ill., team up Thursday to transplant yellow pitcher plants in the bog garden exhibit at the Garden of the Coastal Plain. The garden, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Southern University Department of Biology worked together to rescue the rare carnivorous plants from a development.
JEFF HARRISON
Updated: Sep 3, 2012, 9:17 PM
Published: Sep 3, 2012, 9:18 PM
Plants that comprise one of Georgia’s rarest ecosystems were rescued Thursday from a burgeoning construction site that threatened their doom. Before crews could lay waste to a pitcher plant bog — a diverse plant ecosystem in decline throughout the Southeast — located in the corner of a recently cleared tract of land on Georgia Highway 67 that will become the Aspen Heights apartment complex, officials representing Georgia Southern University and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources worked a deal with property owners to remove several species of threatened plants. Thursday evening, the many species of green, yellow and burgundy plants were given a new home: a bog used for educational display at the newly named Garden of the Coastal Plain at Georgia Southern University — formerly the Georgia Southern Botanical Garden.
Visit Statesboro launches ‘Sip & Soar’ to highlight downtown open cups zone
Features specially designed, optional cups for participating places that pour
Special to-go cups, featuring artwork by Visit Statesboro's visitor center Manager Murphy McRae, depict the exterior of "Sip & Soar" participating establishments in the downtown Statesboro open container exemption zone. These cups are optional, but the requirement for paper or plastic cups of 20 ounces or less is part of the city law.
From staff reports
Published: May 3, 2025, 2:14 AM
Without promoting drinking on the streets in general, Visit Statesboro has launched a “Sip & Soar” campaign to highlight the fact that alcoholic beverages in paper or plastic cups can legally be taken outside of eating and drinking establishments in a limited, ordinance-defined area of downtown Statesboro, as long as rules are followed.
Nearly five years have passed since City Council approved the ordinance that makes this possible, and it took effect immediately, in July 2020. Visit Statesboro, the destination marketing organization long known as the Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau, issued a media release May 2, 2025, announcing the Sip & Soar initiative and including a map of the designated “open container area.” A bird in flight is part of Visit Statesboro’s logo, and the organization already used references to “soaring” in its marketing efforts.
“We just wanted to make it clear to everyone, and that’s one reason why we included the map,” Visit Statesboro President and CEO Becky Sanders told the Statesboro Herald. “We just want everyone to enjoy the benefits but also follow the rules.”
Its own webpage
In addition to issuing the map and media release and giving the initiative its own webpage, https://sipandsoar.com, Visit Statesboro is partnering with eating and drinking establishments in the open container area to provide them with “exclusive, custom-designed to-go cups.” The cups feature original artwork by Murphy McRae, Visit Statesboro’s visitor center manager, whom Sanders called “an amazing graphic artist,” with tiny sketches of the participating establishments’ exteriors, plus a QR code to sipandsoar.com.
These cups are optional and “purely for fun,” but are also meant to “help ensure that everyone, from locals to visitors, knows exactly how to enjoy the open container area safely and responsibly,” the release stated.
Key rules of the zone
● No Glass or Aluminum Beverage Containers: Only paper or plastic cups are allowed.
● Container Size: The cup must be 20 ounces or less.
● Age Requirement: Of course, people must be 21 years or older to drink or be served alcoholic beverages.
● No-Go Area: The Bulloch County Courthouse and its grounds, being county property, are not part of the city’s open-container area, and drinking alcoholic beverages is prohibited on the courthouse grounds.
That last point may be important for people to bear in mind during special events such as the city-sponsored Downtown Live concerts, when eating and drinking establishments in the area may be serving adult beverages, but there’s more of a family atmosphere near the courthouse.
Also, as was pointed out five years ago when the city “open container exemption zone” ordinance amendment was adopted, the Georgia law prohibiting possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle remains in effect in the city’s zone, as does, of course, the law against driving under the influence. Being a pedestrian under the influence is also a state law violation if a person’s behavior threatens the safety of others or occurs in a roadway.
The city ordinance section, 6-17(k), also restricts establishments in the zone from selling more than one alcoholic beverage in a to-go cup per person age 21 and up.
Visit Statesboro has included the text of the ordinance section on the sipandsoar.com site.
This map shows Statesboro's downtown open container zone, defined since July 2020 as bounded on the north by Courtland Street, Simmons Way and Proctor Street; on the east by Mulberry Street; on the west by Martin Luther King Jr. Drive; and on the south by Bulloch Street between MLK Drive and College Street. But then after turning north along College Street, the remainder of the southern boundary is on Cherry Street between College and Mulberry.
That site also gives these landmarks for the open container zone’s boundaries:
To the South you should turn back before you pass the Methodist Church.
To the West don’t wander too far past the Post Office.
Walking to the North you should stop just beyond the Bulloch County Courthouse.
To the East you can walk to Eagle Creek Brewery and the Boro Art Park, but not beyond.
Sanders noted that another organization, the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority, led in advocating for the ordinance amendment’s passage.
“Their leadership has helped ensure the open-container area enriches downtown’s welcoming atmosphere while preserving a safe, family-friendly environment,” she said.
The release also quoted Justin Samples, Visit Statesboro’s vice president of marketing.
“We are thrilled to highlight this unique city ordinance and invite everyone to experience downtown Statesboro in a unique and exciting new way,” he said. “The Sip & Soar campaign not only educates our community about the open container area but also supports our local businesses, encouraging a lively, safe, and enjoyable downtown atmosphere.”
