City Of Sumter To Celebrate Arbor Day Friday
Sumter, SC – December 2, 2015 – The City of Sumter marks its 29th year as a “Tree City USA†with a special planting during the annual Arbor Day observance on Friday, December 4, 2015 at 2 p.m. The event takes place at Memorial Park on West Hampton Avenue, in the heart of Sumter’s residential historic district.
The Tree City USA program, established in 1976 by the National Arbor Day Foundation, has recognized more than 3,400 communities nationwide for their commitment to sound urban forestry practices. Sumter’s recognition is an ongoing achievement that demonstrates the community’s dedication to creating and maintaining a beautiful, healthy landscape.
2015’s ceremony serves in part as a tribute to Mrs. Dillon’s achievements with the selection of a Chinese Evergreen Oak to be added to the park, replacing one planted by her staff. The original tree flourished for decades until it was lost to a lightning strike this past spring. During the planting ceremony, a proclamation will be read declaring December 4th as Arbor Day in the City of Sumter. Representatives of the Sumter Master Gardeners and the Council of Garden Clubs will be present and the public is invited to attend.
Memorial Park, established in 1921, was named in honor of Sumter’s fallen soldiers of World War I. The park holds the distinction of having been designed by Mrs. Julia Lester Dillon. Mrs. Dillon, a Georgia native, had an established reputation as one of the nation’s foremost landscape architects, and was chiefly responsible for Augusta being named “The Garden City of the South.†Following the completion of Memorial Park, Mrs. Dillon established her permanent home in Sumter where she was named Superintendent of Parks and Trees, the first woman in America to hold this distinction.
For more information, please contact Brock McDaniel, City of Sumter’s ISA Certified Arborist, at (803) 847-7967 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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