A student prepares a tree at last year’s Trees for Tots Arbor Day event.
Trees for Tots celebrates its 20th anniversary Friday in Haverhill by supplying 1,000 spruce saplings to all public and private first grade students.
The Haverhill Exchange Club, sponsor of the program, plans to work with Rogers Spring Hill Garden Center to plant a large hardwood tree at Walnut Square School to celebrate Arbor Day.
“It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since this great program started. With all of our little first grade volunteers, we have helped plant over 20,000 trees so far,” said event chairman Jeffery Linehan of Diversified Business Systems of Haverhill. “It’s a great program for young minds to learn about the environment. What better way then to plant a tree and watch it grow?”
Walnut Square first grade teacher Judy Reilly’s class has been sorting the saplings with help from this years sponsor’s National Grid and Spring Hill Nursery, Linehan said. “The end result is each student will receives a spruce tree along with a coloring book explaining the history of Arbor Day, and then the fun part of planting a tree on Friday May 1,” he said.