Greet Buckhead's Buck at Buck Naked Party Thursday night

Sandy Springs had its turtles, downtown its cows, and soon Buckhead will have its bucks.

The Buckhead Business Foundation’s fund-raising effort to place decorated Buckhead buck statues at community businesses moves into high gear at the Buck Naked Party at Phipps Plaza.

The  event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Phipps’ Court of the South costs $10, with proceeds benefiting Livable Buckhead, the Buckhead CID-affiliated organization in charge of the Ga. 400 trail and the Buckead Collection green space initiative. For advance tickets, see the Buckhead Business Association web site, or go to bucksonthestreet.org.

Elizabeth Gill, co-chairman of the Bucks on the Street fund-raising effort along with Donna Kain, said they believed “the community needed  a project like this to infuse some fun and some spirit. We all love Buckhead and just want to give back to Buckhead.

“We’re hoping the community will come out and support this, and hoping that everyone will love the buck,” said Gill, former BBA president and owner of Express Employment Professionals. “We’re going to have a naked buck there, and a painted buck there to see what they look like.” A costumed buck character will also be present, and children and BBA members can have their pictures taken with it.

Denise Starling, Livable Buckhead’s executive director, will talk about the organization’s green space plans, including the Ga. 400 trail.

The cost of a sponsorship for a Buck statue is $4,000, Gill said, adding that about 10 have already been sold.

“We will work wirh a company to get it painted or designed as they would like to portray their company,” Gill said. A company can decide to place the buck outside or inside its office, or along the green space being added to Buckhead through the Buckhead Collection initiative.

After the Sandy Springs and downtown campaigns, Gill and Kain, who’s with Fifth Third Bank, conceived of their idea, seeing that Buckhead ‘s effort could be distinctive.

“No one had an actual animal that was the name of their town,” Gill said. “We thought this was really perfect for us to have a buck in Buckhead.”

Gill said the Buckhead statue’s design was derived from noted illustrator Jack Davis, one of the original “Buckhead Boys” and the designer of Mad magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman. She said Davis gladly allowed the foundation to adapt his “Buckhead boy” character deisgn for the statue.