It has been over 135 years since J. Sterling Morton founded Arbor Day. His simple idea of setting aside a special day for tree planting is now more important than ever.
Arbor Day is nationally celebrated on the last Friday in April but South Carolina observes this day the last Friday in December every year and this year the date was December 6th and Dillon’s Soil & Water Conservation District celebrated this day in some local schools.  This year the district wanted to do something different than in years past, so the Soil and Water Conservation District donated a tree and had a “plant the tree” program at two Dillon County elementary schools.

Lake View Elementary
It was a perfect sunny day to celebrate with the 4th graders at Lake View Elementary and to teach them about Arbor Day while letting them participate in planting a tree.  
A Tuscarora Crape Myrtle was given to the school and the site for the tree was prepared by the following Lake View Agriculture students; A.J. Rogers, Madison Matthews and Brittany Hardee.
The 4th graders were very excited to see they would be a part of this exercise because they had seen the tree there while going into school that morning but had no idea what it was for or why it was there – not planted just there!!   
The ceremony began with a little fun and then moved into asking them if they knew what Arbor Day was and what we do on that day.  
It was fun to hear their answers but it was also exciting to see their faces when they were told they were going to help plant the tree that was there.  It’s amazing what joy it gave them to put a shovel in their hands and have them throw dirt into a hole!  If only they could be that easily entertained at home!  
After the tree planting all the students were given a Loblolly Pine seedling to take home and plant so they could watch it grow – just like they will be able to see this first Arbor Day tree planted at their school grow!  It was a first for the school and for the district to plant a tree on school grounds for today generation and for future ones.  
The leadership of Lake View Elementary, Principal Kim Walsh, and all the fourth grade teachers Kylie Lane, Barbara McClellan and Heather Miller were instrumental in the success in the first ever Arbor Day tree planting at their school.  

Gordon Elementary
The ceremony to celebrate Arbor Day was held on the morning of December 6th at Gordon Elementary and was followed by a tree planting by the 4th grade students immediately after the indoor program.  Ms. Sarah Price Lynch’s students that are in the community outreach after school program helped plant the Tuscarora Crape Myrtle that Dillon Soil & Water Conservation District gave to the school for Arbor Day.  Every student helped with planting the tree by taking a shovel and placing dirt in the hole to cover the tree!!   Years from now they can look back and say “I remember when I helped plant that tree”!
A special thanks to all the students that were a part of this program and to the staff at Gordon Elementary – without their continued support and interest, it would not be possible to teach our children about the importance of conservation and our environment. R