Celebrate the value of Texas trees on Texas Arbor Day

Photo byCity of Fort Worth

The City of Fort Worth will hold its annual Arbor Day event on Friday, Nov. 1, at Log Cabin Village. 2100 Log Cabin Village Lane. Admission is free for all guests during the event hosted by the Fort Worth Park & Recreation Department.

The Arbor Day ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Foster House (the main building near the entrance) with opening remarks from local officials followed by a reading of an Arbor Day proclamation, presentation of awards and the announcement of new Fort Worth Heritage Trees.

Following the brief ceremony, guests are invited to explore the Village. Wander the grounds at your leisure and take part in all the fun and festivities for kids and grownups alike:

• Arbor Day stations for games and craft activities
• Areas to learn about Indian marker trees and native trees important to Texas pioneers
• Curated book lists and freebies from the Fort Worth Library
• Free tree seedlings courtesy of the Fort Worth Garden Club (while supplies last)

Photo byCity of Fort Worth

Arbor Day Timeline

• Historians trace Arbor Day’s origins back to the fifth century when Swiss villagers gathered to plant groves of oak trees. Adults turned the event into a festival and children were given treats as a reward for their help planting trees.
• Arbor Day first appeared in the United States in 1872. J. Sterling Morton is credited with guiding this country’s first Arbor Day resolution through the Nebraska Legislature that year.
• President Theodore Roosevelt was a strong supporter of Arbor Day. Early in the 20th century, it was becoming clear that the nation’s forests were being exhausted by timber harvesting. Roosevelt sent a letter to the children of the United States in which he wrote, “A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as hopeless.”
• In Texas, Arbor Day first appeared in Temple on Feb. 22, 1889. W. Goodrich Jones led citizens in a mass meeting to call for a tree planting campaign along the streets of the city.
• One year later, the first statewide observance of Arbor Day was held in Austin. Through the efforts of Sen. George Tyler of Belton, Feb. 22 was set aside by law as Arbor Day to encourage planting trees in the state.
• In 1989 the Legislature passed a resolution moving Texas Arbor Day to the last Friday in April to align with the traditionally observed national Arbor Day. Today, the official Texas Arbor Day is observed on the first Friday in November.

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