The National Trust for Historic Preservation has designated May as National Preservation Month. Daniel Carey, president and CEO of Historic Savannah Foundation, says three years ago they started an annual celebration here, called Preservation Fest. It begins this Friday, May 5th.

“That’s the wine and home tour and we’re focusing on East Jones Street,” Carey said. “We will have four homes open and we will have wine and hors d’oeuvres paired at each home. These are obviously historic homes. Some are past award winners, and we really tout the fact that as private homes on Jones Street, these are otherwise inaccessible.”

The Louise Lauretti Lecture takes place on Sunday, May 7th.

“We’re bringing in Julia Bache, a remarkable young woman,” he explained. “She’s a Girl Scout gold award recipient. She was in Savannah a few years back to get an award and speak at the National Preservation Conference. She was the first young woman in Kentucky to put a building on the National Register and it was a Rosenwald School. And we’ve invited Julia back to talk about the role of women and preservation.”

“Friday May 12th we have our Preservation Awards Luncheon,” Carey continued. “That’s where we celebrate the best of the best, so we honor and recognize the people and projects over the last year or so that have really set the bar for preservation in Savannah.”

“You know preservation is never really finished. It’s always ongoing,” Carey reflected. “Preservation is about progress. It’s not about going back. It’s about protecting what we have now for the future.”

Hear more of our conversation with Daniel Carey in the audio link below. Learn more about Historic Savannah Foundation’s Preservation Fest, happening May 5 – 13, 2017, at MyHSF.org.