An oak tree is to be planted in Dumfries on Friday to mark the two-year anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown.
The commemoration at 2pm in the grounds of the town’s museum will be attended by council leaders Elaine Murray and Rob Davidson and will involve 10 local artists involved in the Atlas Pandemica “Maps to a Kinder World” public art project and The Stove Network.
The council’s community assets supervisor Brian McAviney will plant the ceremonial “Dumfries Oak” which organisers say will “signify a new beginning for the town – one founded on the shared experiences of everyone affected by the events of the last two years”.
One of the projects saw Dumfries author, Karen Campbell, write a book, Here is Our Story, which is a collection of 26 articles from the author’s time as the council’s writer-in-residence for which she interviewed key workers during the pandemic – including Mr McAviney.
Dr Murray said: “We’re delighted to work with The Stove Network to provide not only a tree and a place for people to go and reflect on the pandemic in the upcoming months and years but also to host an exhibition in our council facilities as part of the Atlas Pandemica project.
“It’s certainly been a challenging, gruelling and ever-changing couple of years and we’re both delighted to see some sort of normality return to society in relation to Covid-19.”
Judith Hewitt, the museum curator, will be officially presented with a limited-edition Atlas Pandemica atlas for the museum’s collection on local history during the Covid-19 crisis.
