SAVANNAH — Mayors from across Southeast Georgia are coming to Savannah bearing gifts for patients at Georgia Regional Hospital.

Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson and her colleagues in the region were scheduled to travel by motorcade Wednesday to the mental hospital as part of a Christmas tradition started by Gov. Ernest Vandiver in 1958. The mayors bring gifts donated by the constituents including board games, new pajamas, cosmetics and snacks.

Georgia operates seven regional mental hospitals that serve 3,200 people statewide. Mayors in each region take part in motorcades organized by the Georgia Municipal Association each year between late-November and mid-December.

Hospital officials say some of their patients would not receive Christmas gifts if not for the annual mayors' motorcade.