Officials with the City of Hopkinsville say they will continue to show their commitment to growth this week by planting a tree in celebration of National Arbor Day.
City Beautification Coordinator Heather Braun says the Hopkinsville Public Works Department will be planting a tree at the Fitness Trail, located by the Hopkinsville Fire Station at Riverfront Drive and West First Street. She adds the ceremonial tree-planting will be at 2:00 Wednesday afternoon and will be followed by an Arbor Day Proclamation from Mayor Wendell Lynch.
Typical Arbor Day festivities were canceled this year due to COVID-19 concerns. However, Braun is encouraging residents to participate in their own way, by planting trees at home and within other appropriate ways and locations around the community.
According to Braun, J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture in 1872 that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees. The national holiday, now known as Arbor Day, was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. The holiday is now recognized worldwide.
Braun says trees can reduce the erosion of topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife.
For more information on local Arbor Day efforts, you can call Heather Braun at (270) 498-1555.