By Martine Wolfe-Miller, Town of Mount Pleasant Communications Manager
MOUNT PLEASANT, SC (December 7, 2018) – The Town of Mount Pleasant today proclaimed Arbor Day with the planting of a crape myrtle tree at Park West Recreation Center and urged residents to assume responsible roles for preserving, protecting and planting trees. Public Services staff Marvin Wright and Jonathan Foreman, along with Eddie Bernard, Mount Pleasant Senior Planner and ISA Certified Arborist, planted the tree at the site. Arbor Day is celebrated in South Carolina the first Friday in December.
“Arbor Day is of special significance to the Town and to the Tree City USA designation that we have earned for the past 29 years,” said Bernard. “The first Arbor Day was celebrated in the State of Nebraska in 1872 in response to a state proclamation urging settlers and homesteaders in that prairie state to plant trees that would provide shade, shelter, fruit, fuel, and beauty for residents of the treeless plains. Today, South Carolina and the Town of Mount Pleasant join in this national effort by celebrating Arbor Day in the early days of December.”
J. Sterling Morton founded Arbor Day more than a century ago. His simple idea of setting aside a special day for tree planting is now more important than ever. 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 life-giving oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife.
"Trees are a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuels for our fires, beauty for our community, and most importantly a source of joy and spiritual renewal,” Bernard added. Since receiving the first Tree City USA award, the Town of Mount Pleasant has planted nearly 7,500 trees, mostly live oaks, within its town limits.