Rocky Top Welcomes Arbor Day celebration
Not only was it the inaugural Arbor Day celebration in Rocky Top, but also a great opportunity for the children of the Boys & Girls Club to learn a little bit about the importance of trees and conservation.
Arbor Day dates all the way back to April 10, 1872. On that day an estimated one million trees were planted in Nebraska.
To this day, Arbor Day sparks the planting of millions of trees nationwide.
The City of Rocky Top is currently working towards establishing themselves as a Tree City.
The criteria to become a Tree City aren’t necessarily easy, either.
The city must have a tree board or department. The city must have established a community ordinance for tree care.
There must be a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita. And the community must have an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
Along with members of the Rocky Top City Council and Downtown Growth Committee in attendance for the presentation were members of the North Anderson County Boys & Girls Club.
Chairperson of the Downtown Growth Committee Denise Casteel said that because Rocky Top now meets the requirements to become a Tree City and city leaders are looking forward to becoming one of less than 50 cities across Tennessee to be granted Tree City Status.
On the significance of getting Rocky Top named a Tree City, Tim Hatmaker said, “ We are trying to improve the image and improve the town in any way that we can. I think that it’s good not only for future generations to be able to see that we are trying to improve our environment and our local community but it’s good for the town in many ways.” In honor of Arbor Day and Rocky Top’s quest toward becoming a tree city, Tim Hatmaker, of the Downtown Growth Committee, handed out bare root seedlings of White Flowering Dogwood trees the kids could plant.