Keep Gilmer Beautiful recently partnered with two statewide organizations to distribute 100 tree seedlings to several local agencies and organizations.
The northern red oak and dogwood seedlings were supplied by the local Georgia Forestry Commission office in partnership with Keep Georgia Beautiful, noted Ron Cheslock, chairman of the Keep Gilmer Beautiful advisory committee.
“I believe this will be our third year (with the seedlings), and we took a little different approach this year mostly due to COVID. In years past, we’ve given them to the public (to coincide with) Earth Day activities, but this year we reached out to nonprofits, schools and some of the other entities in the county to see if we could turn this into a service project,” said Cheslock.
Members of the community beautification group also assisted in planting some the seedlings, Cheslock noted.
“We did not get as many seedlings this year, but we are going to be proactive based on the response we’ve had. We hope we’ll be able to get a larger quantity (next year),” he added.
Tree seedlings that will grow in Georgia are typically distributed by the state forestry commission each January in conjunction with Bring One for the Chipper, a Christmas tree recycling program led by Keep Georgia Beautiful, of which KGB is a local affiliate.
“Normally, it’s done after you have the ‘chipper’ event, but they sent us the seedlings anyway this year. The seedlings are a way of giving back a new tree to replace a tree that’s been cut down for Christmas,” said Karen Vitelli, of the KGB advisory board. “If you happen to see new red oaks and dogwoods (planted) in town, thank the Bring One for the Chipper program.”
So far, the bare-root seedlings have been distributed to the Gilmer Board of Commissioners (Charlie Paris, Karleen Ferguson and Hubert Parker), the Gilmer High School Environmental Club, the Tabor House Museum, North Georgia Christian Academy, Pleasant Hills Montessori School, Children First Preschool at First United Methodist Church and Gilmer County Public Safety.
“We also plan on giving some to some of our Adopt-a-Road (team members). Some of them have been taking care of picking up litter on their roads for over five years. As the seedlings need to be planted in February, some of the teachers have said they will call it ‘Have a Heart for a Tree Day’ (sometime) around Valentine’s Day,” Vitelli noted. “North Georgia Christian Academy will be using Boy Scout Troop 440 to help plant their seedlings, which will help the Scouts with their badges and community projects.”
Keep Gilmer Beautiful is looking into hosting a local Christmas tree recycling event, possibly this year.
“We’re going to (talk with) our county officials to see if that’s something we can bring to the county this December,” confirmed Cheslock.
Vitelli noted that the “chipper” program is beneficial in a few ways. It keeps the recyclable, discarded trees from being dumped at landfills or elsewhere, and mulch made from the chipped trees can be used for community improvement projects.
“The thousands of trees taken at these events are (used) to make mulch that is implemented in hundreds of communities statewide. The mulch is donated to playgrounds, city beautification projects, parks and individual yards. Some of the Christmas trees are transformed into fish habitats at local lakes, and the game commission also uses (them) for small game protection,” she added.