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Plant a tree this month for the rest of your life
Keep Liberty Beautiful
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Super Bowl is next weekend, right? I have a confession. I have no idea who is even playing.
I’ve gone to many Super Bowl parties not knowing what teams were playing. I just don’t get into pro football. It is so, professional, sort of like a business. I don’t get the thrill of a college game.
So I certainly seldom have any idea where they’re playing. Until this year. I know this year because they planted trees for the Super Bowl in Texas. Seven months after planting the first Super Bowl XLV-related tree on a hot day in June, volunteers, league representatives and officials gathered again recently to plant hundreds more, and to celebrate the NFL’s environmental efforts in north Texas.
Participants in the Super Grow XLV planted more than 6,500 trees, trying to minimize the Super Bowl’s impact on the area’s environment. Seedlings were given to thousands of children. Twelve of the Super Bowl XLV host communities coordinated tree plantings.
Super Grow has allowed Arlington to renew its commitment to growing its urban forest, according to Mayor Robert Cluck. “There are so many advantages to having the Super Bowl in your town ... and one of the big ones is the environmental program,” Cluck said.
Although we won’t be hosting a Super Bowl any time soon, planting trees should be important to us in Liberty County as well, especially with Arbor Day coming up. Promoting urban forests growth (lots of trees in populated locations) helps keep cool us and provides welcome shade. Trees can also cut energy costs.
To celebrate Georgia Arbor Day, Keep Liberty Beautiful, with the help of the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Forestry Commission, the Coastal Courier and Brewer’s Christmas Tree Farm, is once again providing free trees in February for planting. We want to encourage any civic group, school, church, business and city to reserve seedlings while supplies last. Contact KLB by Feb. 14.
We ask that you take a picture of your group or employees planting the trees and e-mail your picture with information by Feb. 22, so we can include it in a photo essay in the Courier.
We know there are many residents who would like trees in their yards as well. On Saturday, Feb. 19, at our quarterly Recycle It! Fair for recycling electronics and household hazardous waste items, we will also have 100 trees to give away. Once again the trees are free, but if you can we’d love to get an e-mailed picture of your family planting. For both giveaways, contact Keep Liberty Beautiful at 880-4888 or klcb@libertycountyga.com .
One other fun Arbor Day activity is the Arbor Day Photo Contest and Exhibit sponsored this year by the Hinesville Area Arts Council. We’re looking for artistic photographs of coastal trees. There are youth (12-17) and adult (18 and older) categories. An exhibit of all the entries will be on Friday, Feb. 18, to honor participants. The deadline for sending in your entry is Feb. 10. For more information on the contest and exhibit, check out www.hinesvillearts.com .

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