FNGLA Arbor Day Program

What is Arbor Day?
Arbor Day is a nationally celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and tree care. 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 largely treeless plains. On that first Arbor Day, more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska's communities and on its farms.
The Arbor Day idea was promoted by J. Sterling Morton, editor of the Nebraska City News, who later helped the idea spread to neighboring states and eventually to all of the United States and many other nations.

Today, Arbor Day celebrations are held in communities all over America, with the date determined by the best tree planting times in each area. Celebrations are held as early as January and February in some southern states, and as late as May in more northern locations. National Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday in April.

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How does FNGLA celebrate Arbor Day?
The Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association (FNGLA) offer every elementary school in the state a FREE opportunity to celebrate National Arbor Day on a grand scale! FNGLA wants to help students make a statement about preserving our environment and future by holding a tree-planting ceremony in conjunction with National Arbor Day.

A tree voucher is offered to a fourth grade teacher in every school along with educational materials for the classroom. Vouchers are limited and we respond to schools on a first come, first serve basis until they are gone.

Those who respond by the respected deadline will also receive:

•   “Celebrate Arbor Day” Ceremony Planning Sheet
•   Brief History of Arbor Day
•   Tree planting instructions
•   “Florida Trees” classroom materials from the Florida Ag in the Classroom’s Keeping Florida Green curriculum—meets Sunshine State Standards
•   A formatted press release for to promote the activity to local media

We look forward to you helping us celebrate Florida’s trees!

How do you plant a tree for Arbor Day?

Following the proper tree planting specifications is imperative for the health of a new tree. Click here to download a tree planting cue card.

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Good ideas for an Arbor Day celebration:

•  Raise the flag, strike up the band, make Arbor Day fun. Make it memorable. Organize a fun run. Make it a real event. See if a local business will donate prizes. Have a poster contest, or a poetry contest. Get the local PTA to sponsor a children's pageant or play. Organize and train volunteers to help you carry out Arbor Day ceremonies in your schools.
  
• Get people excited. Show them things they've never seen before. Tell them things about trees they've never heard.
  
• Fill the air with music. Have an Arbor Day concert of songs about trees, or with tree names in their titles.
  
• Get people into action. Ask a civic or service group to promote a paper drive to gather paper to be recycled and save a tree. Use the proceeds to buy a special tree to plant in a park or other special public place. Ask a local radio station to sponsor a tree trivia contest and give away trees to winners. Conduct a tree search. Ask people to find large, unusual or historic trees in your community. Tell people to take a hike--a tree identification hike--and have girl scouts or boy scouts act as guides.
  
•  Dedicate a forest, or a tree, or a flower bed in a park, and make it an occasion to talk about stewardship. Get a local nursery or garden center to hold an open house or field day. Organize an Arbor Day Fair.
  
•  Get people together. Encourage neighborhood organizations to hold block parties and get their members to adopt and care for street trees in front of their homes. Pass out buttons. Give away trees.
  
• Celebrate Arbor Day in a personal way by planting a tree yourself. It is an act of optimism and kindness, a labor of love and a commitment to stewardship.
  
• Anyone can do it. Start a tree seed in a cup, or a seedling in a pot. If you have no place to set it out later, give it to someone who does, and then watch it grow together. Find a place to plant a seedling or a sapling or the largest tree you can handle alone.

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Planning an Arbor Day ceremony

An Arbor Day ceremony, be it simple and brief or an elaborate all-day observation, can be a delight to children and adults alike. It is especially meaningful to children if they have discussed the history of Arbor Day and have learned how to plant and care for trees before the ceremony is held.

A basic Arbor Day ceremony might include:

1. Greetings by a school principal or civic leader.
2. Reading a brief Arbor Day history.
   
3. Singing songs and reading poems about trees and tree planting.
   
4. Planting a tree together. Children might add a handful of soil brought from home to cover the roots. A small bottle holding the planters' handwritten names could also be placed by the roots.
   
5. Upon completion of the planting, demonstrate how to properly water and care for the new tree.
   If resources allow, it is very memorable to distribute tree seedlings with planting and care instructions.

For more information about the FNGLA Arbor Day Program:
Contact: Julie Markowitz at FNGLA, jmarkowitz@fngla.org.

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