Arbor Day in O’Fallon – April 30, 2016
***Update (4/29/16) - Due to the rain and storms forecasted during the Arbor Day Celebration on April 30th, the event has been cancelled. A make-up date will be announced in the future.***
O’Fallon, Illinois – Mayor Gary L. Graham and the City Council have issued a Proclamation declaring April 30, 2016 as Arbor Day in the City of O’Fallon, and urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day by supporting local efforts to protect O’Fallon’s trees and woodlands. O’Fallon residents are invited to celebrate Arbor Day with the O’Fallon Garden Club on Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 9-11 a.m. at the Taylor Road Garden Site (1205 Taylor Road).
“I urge all citizens to come celebrate Arbor Day with the Garden Club by planting trees and forming a new orchard at the Taylor Road Garden Site,” said Mayor Graham. “O’Fallon was named as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the 18th consecutive year in 2015, and this event is one of the many reasons why.”
Arbor Day was started in 1872 when J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees. Arbor Day was then first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska.
Trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife. Trees are a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for homes, fuel for our fires and countless other wood products. Trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas and beautify our community.
For more information about Arbor Day, please visit the Arbor Day Foundation’s website at www.arborday.org.
For efforts in 2015, The City of O’Fallon celebrated its 18th year as a Tree City USA community. Last year’s Tree City USA activities included a planting project at the O’Fallon Family Sports Park where 306 native oaks, hickories, hackberry, blackgum, and cypress were planted.
The Tree City USA Program has been greening up cities and towns across America since 1976. It is a nationwide movement that provides the framework necessary for communities to manage and expand their public trees. The Tree City USA Program is an Arbor Day Foundation program in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry, and the National Association of State Foresters.
For more information on the Tree City USA Program, please go to http://www.arborday.org/programs/treeCityUSA/index.cfm.