Silverhill hosts 30th Arbor Day celebration

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SILVERHILL, Alabama — The town of Silverhill celebrated its 30th anniversary as a Tree City, celebrating with a tree giveaway and tree planting on Friday, Feb. 28 at the Silverhill Community Center.

One of the area’s first towns to be part of the Tree City program, Silverhill gave away potted trees, including straw magnolia, bottle brush, sasanqua and sweet olive.

Town officials and representatives from the Baldwin County Master Gardeners were on hand for the planting of a Japanese saucer magnolia at the municipal park in honor of Arbor Day.

The annual Arbor Day celebrations are part of the local municipalities’ qualification as a Tree City USA community.

In order to qualify as a Tree City, municipalities must meet four standards established by The Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters.

According to the Arbor Day Foundation website, arborday.org, the standards were established to ensure that every qualifying community would have a viable tree management plan and program and were designed so that no community would be excluded because of size.

In order to qualify for Tree City USA status, municipalities must:

• Have a tree board or department.

• Adopt a tree care ordinance.

•Maintain a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita.

• Hold an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

Arbor Day was originated in Nebraska City, Neb., by J. Sterling Morton. The first Arbor Day was held April 10, 1872 and an estimated 1 million trees were planted that day.

Many countries now observe a similar holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, depending on climate and suitable planting season.