The city Parks and Leisure Services and community groups will sponsor a tree planting ceremony in honor of W. Goodrich Jones, a Temple resident and the founder of Texas Arbor Day, at noon today in Jones Park at 1102 W. Avenue H.

The park is named for Jones, who held the first ever Arbor Day celebration in Temple in 1889.  He also established the Texas Forestry Association, which later developed into the Texas Forest Service.

Participating in the Arbor Day program will be Mayor pro tem Patsy Luna, Parks and Leisure services officials and representatives from Keep Temple Beautiful, the city Tree Advisory Board and the Nan Brown Garden Club.

Speakers for the Arbor Day program will include Zoe Rascoe, vice chairwoman of Keep Temple Beautiful; Val Romming, city arborist; Carol Koster, president of the Nan Brown Garden Club; and Dr. Dennis Hoffman, a member of the Temple Tree Advisory Board.

“Temple Parks and Leisure Services is proud to have sponsored the city’s application to become a Tree City,” Parks and Leisure Services Director Ken Cicora said.

“One of the important responsibilities of being a Tree City USA is to educate our citizens about the importance of trees, “ Ms. Rascoe said.  “Arbor Day is a great opportunity to do that because people are already in that frame of mind.”

–Reprinted with permission of Temple Daily Telegram