Arbor Day celebration at TCES

Holding the Tree City USA Flag are Mrs. Moss's students with Ga Forestry Commission Ranger Roy Fortenberry, Mrs. Moss, Hiawassee Garden Club member Virginia Palmer, and Ranger Bo Berry. They planted a redbud tree at the elementary school property.

The second grade students of Mrs. Stephanie Moss at Towns County Elementary School were so excited to be participating in an Arbor Day planting last Friday, February 15, 2008. The students also received a good sized seedling to take home to plant.

Each year the Georgia Forestry Commission and the Hiawassee Garden Club work together on Arbor Day, celebrated the third Friday in February in Georgia. It is always good to include young people in this important observance. They look up to and listen to these Forestry Rangers as they arrive in their "fire truck" and explain what this day is about and why trees are so important.

As Rangers Roy Fortenberry and Bo Berry dug the hole to plant a redbud tree to the left of the road to the elementary playground, they advised the students to dig a big enough hole for their seedling, water it good, and "name it." Fortenberry said, "This is a special tree that you need to name, after a friend or a loved one, but name it and care for it." The students were already thinking of names as they took their seedlings back to the classroom. They had a variety of three to choose from: crabapple (fruit), redbud, and bald cypress.

Students listen intently as a redbud tree is being planted by Rangers Roy Fortenberry and Bo Berry at TCES.

The Arbor Day planting is also a part of the City of Hiawassee being a Tree City USA for a number of years.