FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    April 18, 2001

Cary, NC - Town of Cary staff will visit Oakgrove Elementary School on Thursday, April 19, 2001 from 10:00 to 11:30 AM to celebrate Cary Arbor Day with the school’s second grade classes. Trees will be the highlight of the day and students will be prepared to enjoy songs, poems and artwork about trees and to enjoy refreshments that come from trees. The celebration will be the culmination of a tree planting project that started last fall when staff from the Town of Cary’s Public Works and Utilities Department helped teacher Debbie Harbin’s second grade class of thirty plant shade trees on the school grounds.

Shaub Dunkley, Horticultural Planner for the Town, proposed the idea of planting the trees in fall and then having a planting celebration on the traditional spring Arbor Day. Dunkley explained to the students that many people think spring is the best time to plant trees. However, in North Carolina, unlike colder areas of the country, the best time of the year to plant trees is fall to mid winter. He told them that fall planted trees grow roots all winter which makes them stronger and more prepared to grow through next summer’s heat and dryness.

Anticipating the Arbor Day visit back to the school, Dunkley said "The students really enjoyed the tree planting work. Debbie Harbin tells me they have continued to study trees and keep a tree journal since the fall planting. Each child was able to adopt an individual tree and they are eager to show me how they are starting to grow."

The purchase of trees for the planting project was made possible through two programs. The Town of Cary’s Trees For Cary program funded one half of the trees. The other half were obtained through a tree grant program of the Regional Appearance Committee for Triangle J Council of Governments.

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