CULLMAN – On Wednesday morning, March 18, in front of City Hall, Mayor Max A. Townson led students and citizens of Cullman in celebration of Arbor Day and the city of Cullman’s 27th consecutive year as being designated a “Tree City.”
The Tree City award is given by the Tree City USA program, which is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forestry Service.
There are four standards that must be met in order for a community to qualify as a Tree City, which include having an Arbor Day observance and proclamation, along with having a tree board or department. The mayor, along with observing Arbor Day and proclaiming this week as “Arbor Week,” presented awards to winners of the annual Arbor Day Poster Contest.
Among the first place winners was Will Fowler from St. Paul’s Lutheran School. Fowler declared that he would spend his prize money on Legos.
Mayor Townson and Darrell Johns, the arborist of Cullman, have been diligent in keeping trees a prominent part of landscaping throughout Cullman as industrial growth has occurred.
The winners of the poster contest, all of who are students from schools around the community, assembled for a photo with the mayor as he explained to them the importance of trees.
National Arbor Day is April 24.
