Eldorado Garden Study Club Celebrates Arbor Day at SIC
The Eldorado Garden Study Club celebrated Arbor Day April 20 by donating a Maple Autumn Blaze tree to Southeastern Illinois College.
The club’s Arbor Day Committee consists of Dr. Mary Jo Oldham Morgan (chair), Nina Brown, Donna Hearn, and Dr. Dana Keating.
Arbor Day is America’s oldest environmental holiday, and is a unique holiday because it focuses on the future, not on the past.
Keating spoke to the group about the origins of Arbor Day. She explained that in the US, Arbor Day began in Nebraska due to the efforts of a newspaper publisher named J. Sterling Morton.
“Through his efforts, April 10, 1872, was set aside as Nebraska’s first Arbor Day,” said Keating.
More than a million trees were planted on that first Arbor Day.
“Several years ago, the Eldorado Garden Study Club began its own Arbor Day tradition by planting a tree here on the campus of SIC. That first tree has now grown to a small grove of trees,” said Keating. “As an employee of the college for 38 years, and long before I was a member of the garden club, I have had the pleasure of watching this grove grow and beautify the campus. So today, that tradition continues with the planting of another tree.”
The club thanked Ed Fitzgerald and the SIC Environmental Services crew for selecting and planting the tree for the club.
Arbor Day 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 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 16 years in honor of Arbor Day to establish a grove for the campus.
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