Century area residents gathered last Friday, Feb. 15, to join the Arbor Day Celebration and Tornado Remembrance event at the Ag Building located at 6001A Highway 4 in Century.
Sponsored by the Escambia County (Fla.) Forest Service, the tree giveaway featured three different kinds of trees to be given while supplies last.
Arbor Day is celebrated on different days in different countries. Florida’s official Arbor Day is celebrated on the third Friday in January.
“This year, we have dogwoods, red maples and live oaks,” said Cathy Hardin with the Florida Forest Service. “We are doing it in remembrance of the tornadoes and just to encourage more trees to beautify the environment and help with all kinds of things, like shade and lower electric bills. The more trees, the better.”
Century Mayor Henry Hawkins welcomed the crowd and reminded everyone that the event commemorates the tornado in February of 2015 that devastated many homes and areas of the town.
The event began with an official tree planting of a pink camellia tree in front of the building, followed by the free tree giveaway.
Florida Forest Service's Jared Sigler was there with Hardin to answer questions about planting the trees and had pamphlets containing general knowledge of planting. This year's crowd was larger than last year's, and there were several trees left over. Many people got more than one of each kind, until they ran out.
