Arbor Day annual celebration helps to make Georgia Southern greener

Georgia Southern’s Center for Sustainability (CfS) and Division of Facilities Services hosted a celebration honoring Georgia Arbor Day on the Statesboro Campus by planting trees on historic Sweetheart Circle. Students, CfS staff and campus volunteers teamed up to plant 25 containerized trees on Sweetheart Circle and Southern Drive and 650 seedlings around campus.

“This year’s Arbor Day celebration is extra special because we are planting on Sweetheart Circle and this is really one of the most iconic places on campus,” said Lissa Leege, Ph.D., director of the CfS. “To be able to add to our trees, to increase the canopy cover and to replace some of our aging trees is a special day.”

Georgia celebrates Arbor Day on the third Friday of February each year. While the national celebration takes place in April, the subtropical climate in Georgia is far more hospitable to plant life earlier in the year.

CfS and the Division of Facilities Services have partnered up for this celebration for more than eight years and horticulturist Alicia Lanier says that this is a good effort to bridge the gap between departments, students, faculty and staff.

“It gives us a chance to all get in and work elbow-to-elbow and commemorate that relationship that we’re trying to have,” she said. “We think it’s really important that we are all a family and that we work together in things. And what better thing to work together than planting canopy that everyone can enjoy in future years.”

Each year that Georgia Southern celebrates Arbor Day students come out to participate in this event by planting a tree and leaving their mark on the Statesboro Campus.

“We’re planting the seed to last a lifetime for these students. And they can come back and see their trees and see what a difference that has made to our Statesboro and Georgia Southern community,” said Leege.

This year, Statesboro Councilwoman Shari Barr joined the celebration as well as community forester Alex Ballard from the Georgia Forestry Commission.

In previous Arbor Day observances, trees have been planted in Jones Lane Park, Herty Pines Nature Preserve, at the Shooting Sports Education Center and on the University’s south campus near Veterans Memorial Parkway.