City celebrates Arbor Day

Conway celebrated trees Saturday at the city’s annual Arbor Day celebration at Laurel Park.

Mayor Tab Townsell said to a crowd gathered at the park, “Conway is known as the City of Colleges. It could very well be known as the city of trees.”

He said not everyone knows Hewlett-Packard representatives were only in the city twice before deciding to locate a facility here. Officials took them to The Meadows Office and Technology Park, the University of Central Arkansas and Old Conway, he said. HP executives commented on how beautiful Old Conway was, which is in large part due to the trees, he said.

“The trees add to the pleasantness and the beauty of our city,” he continued.

Townsell said in the process of constructing the new baseball park on the site of the former fairgrounds, he and Assistant to the Mayor Jack Bell did not know that every tree on the 40-acre site was going to be leveled.

“We were shocked. It’s not something I’m proud of,” he said. However, the city is going to plant hundreds of trees once the field is completed, and an incident like this should not happen again, he said. The city council will consider a tree preservation ordinance to protect trees during public projects, such as the ball field. He said existing ordinances already require developers to save trees if they can during private construction. The council will consider an ordinance to require builders to notify the tree board and the city council if a tree must be removed during the construction of a public project. The ordinance would also provide that the tree would be replaced many times over with trees of a similar species, Townsell said.

He added he believes it will be warmly accepted by the city council.

“Most cities don’t take that step. I appreciate them leading us where we can take that step,” he said. “We should preserve our trees the best we can.”

Faulkner County Extension Agent Kami Marsh announced Conway’s participation in the nationwide Champion Tree program. The tree board is looking for the biggest tree in Conway. Randy Romeo, president of the tree board, said there could be more than 100 winners of the contest, because it will be judged by individual species of trees. The tree board will help with measurements if needed.

“We would love to recognize everyone who has a big tree,” he said.

Marsh said nomination forms will be available at www.conwaytrees.org.

“If you think you have the biggest tree in Conway, we want you to take part in this contest,” she said.

Also Saturday, elementary art students were recognized for their Arbor Day art contributions, and the Bob Courtway Drama Club performed a skit about the origins of Arbor Day.

At the end of the ceremony, a number of trees were given away for planting.