Texans celebrate “Tree-Epic”
State Arbor Day
Nov.
3, 2017 — GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Texans from across the state gathered today in
Grand Prairie, Texas to celebrate the State Arbor Day and all the benefits
trees provide to people and communities.
Festivities
were held at Grand Central and featured an Arbor Day ceremony, educational
activities, tree plantings and free tree adoptions. Participants included guest
speaker Dan Lambe of the Arbor Day Foundation based in Nebraska City, Nebraska,
1,000 students from Grand Prairie ISD and the eclectic folk/rock band Trout
Fishing in America.
Today’s
celebration was themed Tree-Epic and was held at Epic Waters, the premier city
health, wellness, recreation waterpark in the United States. Exhibiting an
appreciation for the city’s urban forest, the park’s construction crews
relocated more than 150 existing trees when developing the site, planted 250
new trees and plan to plant more in the future.
“Grand
Prairie has larger-than-life commitment to urban forestry,” said Susan Henson, arborist
with the Grand Prairie Parks, Arts and Recreation Department. “And we are honored
to host the state Arbor Day celebration in such an epic way.”
Today’s
celebration of trees also highlighted the importance of restoring the urban
forest when communities are affected by natural disasters. In Texas, the most recent would be Hurricane
Harvey.
According
to Lambe, it will take everyone working together to restore community tree
canopies affected by the hurricane. The Arbor Day Foundation’s Community Tree
Recovery program launched a campaign to help Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico
restore urban forest canopies damaged and lost due to the recent hurricanes.
“The
people of Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico have suffered great personal and
physical loss,” said Lambe. “By replanting, we strive to bring healing and hope
to the people and the communities in which they live. Over time, these trees
will restore the canopy and beauty to these cities.”
Learn
how you can help by visiting arborday.org/hurricanes.
Texans
unable to attend today’s Arbor Day event can still celebrate trees in their own
communities.
Texas
A&M Forest Service is making it easy for anyone, anywhere to participate in
Arbor Day. We’ve provided tips online to help communities anywhere create a
memorable Arbor Day, as well as educational activities for schools, groups and families to get outdoors and learn more about trees.
Please visit http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/arborday/ for ideas on how to host an Arbor Day ceremony. Here you can also find
instructions on how to properly plant a tree and activities about the benefits
of trees, tree parts and how to identify a tree by its leaves or structure –
plus so much more.
About
Arbor Day
J. Sterling Morton established the first Arbor Day in the United States more
than 140 years ago. Now, it is observed throughout the nation, and in Texas we
have been observing this holiday for 128 years. The official Texas State Arbor
Day celebration is held in a different host city each year on the first Friday
in November.
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Editor’s Note: Photos in a
Flickr album on http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/ click Learn and Explore, Photo Gallery
Contacts:
Susan
Henson, Grand Prairie Parks, Arts and Recreation Department, 817-521-1308, shenson@GPTX.org
Courtney
Blevins, Texas A&M Forest Service, 817-879-3974, cblevins@tfs.tamu.edu
Texas
A&M Forest Service Communications, 979-458-6606, newsmedia@tfs.tamu.edu