The City of Hurricane celebrated Arbor Day by hosting a tree planting ceremony at Hurricane Bridge Park on Friday, April 29. The tree, an Autumn Blaze Flowering Pear was planted adjacent to the pickleball courts at Hurricane Bridge Park.

Participating in the ceremony were City Manager Andy Skidmore, Alaine Call, Recorder Linda Gibson, Nick Reeder, Mayor Scott Edwards, PJ Donovan and Jill Adams. PJ, Jill and Linda are members of the City of Hurricane Tree Commission. Nick is a former member of the Tree Commission and spearheaded the effort to get Hurricane re-named a Tree City USA during his internship with the City last summer.

Hurricane was recently recognized as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Started in 1976, Tree City USA is one of the Foundation’s oldest programs. This is the eleventh year that the City of Hurricane has been granted Tree City USA status. Trees benefit a community in that they make for quieter neighborhoods by absorbing sounds of traffic and reducing temperatures by seven to nine degrees. Homes with trees also have higher property values. Green space plays a major role in improving mental and physical health and contributes to the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.