The City of St. Augustine’s annual Arbor Day ceremony will take place on Friday, January 22 at Francis Field. The ceremony that was originally scheduled for Friday, January 15 had to be postponed due to inclement weather. Nationally, Arbor Day is celebrated on the last Friday in April, but since it is a day to plant and care for trees, individual states hold ceremonies on dates that are better suited to their tree-planting season.
The brief ceremony is open to the public and will begin at 11:00am. It will include the planting of Crape Myrtle and Sycamore trees by city officials and presentations by the Street Tree Advisory Committee (STAC). Students from Ketterlinus Elementary School will perform several musical selections and the ceremony will conclude with Smokey Bear handing out saplings to all attendees. The free saplings being distributed include Live Oak, Loblolly Bay, Red Maple, Slash Pine, and Southern Red Cedar.
The 2016 ceremony will make 33 years that St. Augustine has received the prized designation of Tree City USA from the Arbor Day Foundation. The City of St. Augustine has received the award every year since 1991. While 165 cities have received the award, only 10 of those have received the award longer than St. Augustine.
For more information, contact the Department of Public Affairs at (904)825-1004.
