CULLMAN, Ala. – The city of Cullman on Thursday was designated a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the 32nd consecutive year. During the ceremony, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs officially declared Feb. 23-29, 2020 “Arbor Week” in the city of Cullman and urged all citizens to support efforts to care for our trees and woodlands and to support Cullman’s community forestry program.
Jacobs also mentioned that recent park projects have heavily incorporated trees and shrubbery.
“We hate to have to cut trees down,” he said, “but even though we do have to cut some down, we always plant back more.”
City Arborist Darrell Johns accepted the proclamation from Jacobs.
Jacobs praised Johns and the City Tree Commission, saying, “We appreciate Darrell, the tree commission and the forestry folks for all they do to ensure that Cullman’s trees are protected. The tree commission members are all volunteers. They donate their time and efforts because they love this community and they want to help the City preserve and maintain our trees for future generations.”
The North Alabama Forestry Commission’s Albert Mayo presented the City of Cullman this year’s Tree City USA materials which included a Tree City USA flag, two new “Tree City USA” reflective placards to be placed on existing signs in town and other materials.
Jacobs explained that due to inclement weather, the Tree City Flag could not be raised during the ceremony. However, he stated that the flag would be raised in front of Cullman City Hall as soon as weather permits.
Jacobs also recognized the winners of this year’s Arbor Day Poster Contest. Each year in celebration of Arbor Week, fifth-grade students at each public and private elementary school in the city are invited to participate in the Arbor Day Poster Contest. Four schools participated this year in the contest: West Elementary School, Cullman Christian School, Sacred Heart School and St. Paul’s Lutheran School. First-place posters from each school were also judged at the state level. This year’s poster theme was “Trees are Terrific… and Forests are too!”
The winners from each school are:
West Elementary
1st Place: Claire McPhillips
2nd Place: Colton Mason
Cullman Christian
1st Place: Aiden Sandlin
2nd Place: Vella Richter
St. Paul’s
1st Place: Malachi Ard
2nd Place: Aubrey Murphy
Sacred Heart
1st Place: Karly Arndt
2nd Place: Yesenia Santiago
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