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The Alabaster Beautification Board was joined by eight members of the Shelby County Master Gardeners program in hosting the city’s annual Arbor Day celebration. (Reporter photos/Noah Wortham)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster residents had the opportunity to secure their very own tree and learn about how to maintain and take care of it during the city’s annual Arbor Day.

The Alabaster Parks and Recreation Department, with assistance from the Alabaster Beautification Board, hosted the city’s annual Arbor Day celebration on Saturday, March 8 from 8-11 a.m. at Veterans Park.

“I think it just flowed beautifully,” said Marie Jordan, president of the Alabaster Beautification Board. “We got people through there, we gave away door prizes and then we were very pleased with the turnout and the addition of the master gardeners. And of course, we did increase the number of trees and saplings this year.”

Registration for Arbor Day began at 8 a.m. with a Coca Cola music truck providing tunes in the background from 8-11 a.m. During the event approximately 186 trees and more than 200 saplings were distributed for free to Alabaster residents.

“It’s just a family event to pass out trees and raise awareness of the importance of trees and the impact trees and plants have on the environment,” Alabaster Community Programs Manager Morgan Lawley said. “I would like to give a special thanks for all the help we received from the Alabaster Beautification Board on this.”

During the event, students from Thompson High School’s JROTC program assisted visitors with delivering trees to their vehicles. Representatives of the Shelby County Master Gardeners program offered tips and advice to attendees on how to plant trees and answered any other gardening-related questions people might have had.

“Our Parks and Recreation department does a really good job of putting this on every year and they’ve kind of gotten it down to a science, especially having all of the different kinds of trees available to people,” Alabaster Public Relations Manager Neal Wagner said. “It’s something that I know they really enjoy doing, and we always have a really good turn out.”

The following types of trees and saplings were distributed during the event:

• Jane Magnolia
• Red Maple
• Sugar Maple
• Eastern red bud
• Crape Myrtle
• Purple Crape Myrtle
• Pink Crape Myrtle
• White Dogwood
• Pink Dogwood
• Red Dogwood
• Red Oak
• Persimmon
• Pecan
• Bald Cypress

“Our goal is to educate people on the value of planting trees,” Jordan said. “It is a proven fact that the lack of a tree canopy leads to a shift in what they call a micro climate, which means the Earth is getting warmer due to less trees because there is nothing to hold the moisture in the ground… So, from an environmental standpoint, the cooling effect from trees helps diminish the effect of climate warming and it filters out pollutants in the air to give us safer breathing.”

The city of Alabaster is officially recognized as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. Alabaster earned its recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements which consist of maintaining a tree board or department, having a tree care ordinance, dedicating an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and hosting an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

“I think one of the greatest things we can do right now is to encourage people to do everything they can to help our environment,” Jordan said.

With the annual Arbor Day celebrations complete, the Alabaster Beautification Board will sponsor a class on planting, transplanting and repotting trees and shrubs on Saturday, March 29 from 1-3 p.m. at the Albert L. Scott Library. Jefferson County Master Gardener David Doggett will speak during the event.

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