As Arbor Day approaches, a local book club is preparing to celebrate the holiday with its annual tree giveaway. Arbor Day was founded by J. Sterling Morton and was first celebrated in Nebraska on April 10, 1872. The holiday is dedicated to the planting and caring of trees and is now celebrated nationwide on the last Friday of April promoting environmental stewardship and reforestation. On a recent edition of KCNI’s Public Affairs, Patsy Burnett shared how the local book club she belongs to was inspired to conduct the tree giveaway.
“Our guru Polly, Polly Blackburn, actually she had advertised to start some kind of a little group that was environmentally minded, I guess we could say. But over the years it has evolved into a group and we do books about environmentalism and things of that sort. Sometimes we get off the track but it’s a lot of fun, it’s interesting and it gives us hope. As far as trees, that was her idea too, Polly. And I don’t know how many years we’ve actually been doing it but we love doing it.”
There will be several varieties of trees to choose from. Among the varieties available this year are elderberry, chokecherry, chokeberry, crabapple, apple, golden leaf maple, burr oak, deciduous holly, hackberry, Kentucky coffee tree, river birch, and rough leaf dogwood. Those interested in taking a tree this year are asked to reach out to Burnett prior to the giveaway which is scheduled for April 23rd.
“What we do is we meet on the north side of the square and you can come and pick up your treats that afternoon and I think we’re going to be there from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. That’s a little longer than normal but I’m trying to allow for people that get off work late”
To inquire about a free tree contact 308-872-5273.
