As city of Dalton officials, members of the city’s Tree Board and others gathered at Harlan Godfrey Civitan Park on Friday, several remarked on how unseasonably warm the day was.
The group was gathered to observe Arbor Day.
“National Arbor Day is celebrated in late April,” said Chris Stearns, chairman of the Tree Board. “But in Georgia, Arbor Day is always the third Friday in February because this is the best time of year to plant a tree in Georgia. But it’s usually cold and dreary and often windy. I can’t recall a warm Arbor Day before.”
He joked that Pete Purvis must have played a role in getting Dalton that good weather for Arbor Day. Purvis, a 20-year member of the Tree Board, passed away in August.
“He was a friend. He was a colleague, and he cared very much about what is best for Dalton,” Stearns said.
Purvis was honored Friday with two trees planted in his memory at Civitan Park: a Colorado blue spruce and a ginkgo.
“He would be so honored,” said his wife Melva. “He loved the Tree Board and really believed in its work.”
His daughter Kim said the blue spruce and the gingko were chosen because they were two of his favorite trees.
Arbor Day was first celebrated in the United States in 1872 in Nebraska City, Nebraska. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt issued America’s first Arbor Day proclamation.
In addition to Arbor Day, Friday’s celebration also honored Dalton’s 34th anniversary as a Tree City USA. That puts Dalton among the oldest continuous Tree Cities in the country.
To become a Tree City, a city must create a tree board, enact a tree care ordinance for the city, have an annual line item in the budget for maintaining trees and celebrate Arbor Day each year. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.
Dalton Mayor Annalee Harlan Sams said she is proud of Dalton’s Tree City status.
“It shows that Dalton recognizes the importance of trees and how they improve the looks of the city and the quality of life for our residents,” she said.
Kevin Baggett, a vegetation management specialist at North Georgia EMC, noted that the utility has been named a Tree Line USA utility by the Arbor Day Foundation to recognize its dedication to proper vegetation management in its service area.
As part of that honor, utilities commit to properly pruning trees along their right of way. That helps keep those trees healthy and it makes it less likely that trees and branches will fall on power lines and interrupt service.