Delaware celebrates Arbor Day at Rehoboth Elementary
In Delaware, the 150th annual Arbor Day celebration May 6 was a star-studded affair, as Gov. John Carney and state and local officials celebrated trees, and students from all over the state who took part in a statewide Arbor Day poster contest.
At Rehoboth Elementary School, Carney and students statewide came together to plant 10 trees around the school grounds.
Arbor Day in the United States was started in 1872 in Nebraska as a way to encourage people to plant trees. Dr. Mark Holodick, secretary of the Delaware Department of Education, said Arbor Day is an opportunity for children to roll their sleeves up and plant trees, which shows how important and valuable trees are to the environment.
To further encourage participation, the state held a poster contest for children in K-5 to show, through art, what Arbor Day means to them. Nearly 9,500 entries were received from more than 75 schools, with the statewide winner being Lilly Bartlett, a fifth-grader from Allen Frear Elementary School in Camden. Awards were also handed out to students in each grade from schools in each county. Annaleysia Strangman, a fifth-grader from Rehoboth Elementary, won Sussex County’s fifth-grade division.
Carney discussed his Tree For Every Delawarean Initiative, which launched in November and aims to plant a tree for every person who lives in the state.
The City of Rehoboth Beach has been designated a Tree City USA for 31 years, and Mayor Stan Mills was on hand to issue a proclamation that May 6 is Arbor Day in Rehoboth in 2022. Mills said trees help provide life-giving oxygen, habitat for wildlife and enhance the economic vitality of the city. Rehoboth is one of 14 municipalities in Delaware designated as a Tree City USA, and has been one for the second-longest time of any city in the state after Dover, which has held the designation for 33 years.
After the speeches and awards, it was time to do the real work, as Carney led the students and public officials to plant trees.
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn Garvin told the kids, “I come to a lot of these events, and people will refer to you as ‘the environmental stewards of the future.’ I will tell you right now, you’re the environmental stewards of today.”
