Crawfordville’s 3rd Arbor Day A Success

Crawfordville’s 3rd Arbor Day attracted more than 500 people and found homes for more than 1000 trees.  Event organizers and attendees alike deemed the event a great success.

Families took advantage of the sunny day to enjoy the festivities and view the many exhibits at Hudson Park this past Saturday.  Smiles on the children’s faces showed their approval.  Children played on the tire swings and fed the llama and other exotic animals at the petting zoo.  Youngsters also decorated cookies, made pinecone bird feeders, and planted gourd seeds in small pots to take home.

Free trees given away ranged from fringe trees (donated by Just Fruits and Exotics) to white oaks (from Native Nurseries) to longleaf pines (from the Florida Division of Forestry).  Also finding homes were 200 dogwood, 100 redbud, 100 Florida sugar maple, and 100 black gum (black tupelo) trees provided by the Iris Garden Club and Concerned Citizens of Wakulla (CCOW), the event’s organizers.

More than a dozen lucky winners walked off with door prizes, most saying, “I’ve never won anything before.”  Nancy Gabrielson was delighted to win one of the six large magnolias and hollies donated by Purple Martin.  Also awarded were gift certificates to Just Fruits and Exotics, Tallahassee Nurseries, and YMCA Camp Indian Springs.

Pink Shoelaces performed for the crowd and had exhibitors tapping their feet as well. Master Gardeners, the Iris Garden Club, and the Florida Native Plant Society were on hand with helpful information about planting and caring for trees and other plants.  One interesting new exhibit on red-cockaded woodpeckers featured a nesting cavity within a tree section.

Chuck Hess and red-cockaded woodpecker exhibit		Iris Garden Club Members

Artisan and craft vendors were a new addition to the annual celebration.  Vendors offered wares ranging from nature photographs to wind chimes to handmade, garden-scented candles to wooden, outdoor furniture.

“For me, thinking about all the little trees that were planted this week-end makes the hard work and time spent worthwhile,” said event coordinator Lynn Artz.  “I’m already thinking about how to make Crawfordville Arbor Day bigger and better next year,” said Jeannie Brodhead, another member of the planning team.

Please click here to view a Wakulla.com Photo Gallery of the day's festivities! 

This article originally published on January 22, 2007.

Written by :

Lynn Artz

 

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