Eldorado Garden Study Club Celebrates 150th Arbor Day with SIC
The Eldorado Garden Study Club celebrated Arbor Day April 21 by donating a red maple tree to Southeastern Illinois College.
The club’s Arbor Day Committee consists of Dr. Mary Jo Oldham Morgan (chair), Nina Brown, Marilyn Ellis, Donna Hearn, and Dr. Dana Keating.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day, America’s oldest environmental holiday. Arbor Day is a unique holiday because it focuses on the future, not on the past.
“When you plant a tree, you single-handedly help improve the quality of life in your entire community,” said Keating.
The first Arbor Day saw the planting of one million trees in Nebraska in 1872. European colonists had initially instituted massive deforestation in America, and early Americans saw the need to replenish the trees, even then. The event became a legal holiday in 1885, and was moved to April 22. Today, the holiday tradition continues on the last Friday in April each year. It is celebrated by every US state and more than 30 countries worldwide.
The Arbor Day Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation and education organization. A million members, donors, and partners support its programs to make the world greener and healthier. For more information, visit www.arborday.org.
The Eldorado Garden Study Club was organized in 1946. Currently it has 43 members and is part of the Central Region of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. and the District VII Region of The Garden Clubs of Illinois. The club has been donating trees to SIC for about the past 15 years in honor of Arbor Day to establish a grove for the campus.
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