ARBOR DAY
Arbor Day 2009 was Friday, April 24th, a fact that as far as I could tell was largely ignored by the local media. Most people I talked to did not know it was Arbor Day.
I blame myself.... and every other arborist in Illinois. We do a very bad job of promoting our profession and the holiday set aside to celebrate it. While a lot of us attend tree planting ceremonies, I was at one given by the Village of Hoffman Estates, we do not do enough to publicize these events. To those arborists who do their part, I apologize.
I plan to change that for 2010 and the years beyond. I have made an Arbor Day resolution to get the word out! With the help of wife my, who is in the marketing/public relations business, we will be alerting newspapers, radio and TV stations. This will be done through press releases, e-mails and other tools at our disposal. This web page is part of that effort.
Arbor Day was first proposed by J. Sterling Morton in 1872. It was made a holiday by the state of Nebraska 1885 with April 22nd, Morton's birthday, designated as the official date. If the name sounds familiar, that is because Joy Morton, J. Sterling's son, founded the Morton Arboretum. If the date sounds familiar, April 22nd, that is because we now celebrate (since 1970) Earth Day on that day. For more information on the history of Arbor Day please click on this link.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Earth Day. It is important for us to think about the environment and do all we can to protect it. After all, Earth is our only home. Arbor Day is over one hundred years old. It is the original environmental holiday. Unfortunately, the new kid on the block gets all the press.
What can we do about this? It was suggested to me that the name should be changed from "Arbor Day" to "Tree Day". This is because a lot of people don't know what "Arbor" means. Is this really true? Another idea is to do like was done with "Valentine's Day". Someone decided to make another holiday called "Sweetest Day". This is essentially the same holiday but at a different time of the year. What if we have a holiday called "Tree Day" around the end of September? This is another good time to plant trees. What do you think of this idea?
Please contact me through the links below and let me know how you feel about Arbor Day and anything else on this website.