500 trees to be given out at Arbor Day celebration

By JON ANDERSON

The Hoover Beautification Board plans to give away about 500 trees as part of its 2023 Arbor Day celebration on Saturday, Feb. 25.

The celebration is scheduled to be held at Aldridge Gardens from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and there likely will be nine to 11 varieties of trees given out, said Holly Fondots, co-chairwoman of the event. The trees usually are rooted in 2-gallon or 3-gallon containers, and one is available per household until they all are given away, she said.

Last year’s tree giveaway was split among three locations — Aldridge Gardens, the Hoover-Randle Home and Gardens and Greystone Elementary School. But staffing that many locations was more difficult, so the Beautification Board decided to bring it all back to one location again, Fondots said.

This year’s Arbor Day celebration also will feature guest speaker Steve Bender, perhaps better known as The Grumpy Gardener in Southern Living magazine. Bender has almost 40 years of experience as the magazine’s garden editor, senior writer and editor-at-large.

He is the author of six books, including “The Southern Living Garden Book,” “Passalong Plants,” “Southern Living Garden Problem,” “The Grumpy Gardener: An A to Z Guide from the Galaxy’s Most Irritable Green Thumb,” “Callaway Gardens: Legacy of a Dream” and “Remarkable Receptions: Conversations with Leading Wedding Professionals.”

Bender isn’t expected to bring any of his books to the Arbor Day celebration, but he is willing to sign books if guests bring them, Fondots said. He is scheduled to speak at 11 a.m.

The Alabama Wildlife Center is supposed to have some of its wounded raptors in recovery on display from 9 a.m. to noon, and the birding group from Aldridge Gardens is scheduled to give walking tours of the gardens, weather permitting. There also will be a tree planting at Aldridge.

Other groups scheduled to be on site include the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Wild Birds Unlimited, Hoover Beautification Board Green Team and Hoover Belles service organization.

The Hoover Beautification Board also will be recognizing winners of this year’s Arbor Day essay and poster contests for fourth graders in the Hoover public school system.

This year’s essay theme is “Trees, Bees and the Power of Pollination.” Fourth graders are asked to imagine themselves as a honeybee or other winged pollinator, exploring their favorite park or place in Hoover. They should identify which pollinator they would be and why, which place they would explore and the type of tree they find most appealing, and explain why the pollination process is so important to plants, animals and people.

For the poster contest, students are asked to give their creative interpretation of the same theme.

Essays should be 300 words or less. Each school’s teachers and principal by Feb. 3 will choose the top three essays and posters for the Beautification Board to judge. The Beautification Board will identify one honorable mention winner from each school and one overall winner, Fondots said. The winners are scheduled to be recognized at 9:30 a.m. at Aldridge. The winning posters will be on display, and the essay finalists will be invited to read their essays.