Garden club plants Arbor Day tree

Ginger Eisele, president of the Navarre Garden Club holds up a Savannah Holly tree while District 4 County Commissioner Jim Melvin shovels in the dirt around it on Jan. 20 at the Holley-Navarre Senior Association.

More than 30 people showed up for the tree-planting ceremony at the senior center in honor of Florida's Arbor Day. The Garden Club has planted a tree in the community every January for 36 years. While the national Arbor Day is celebrated in April, Sharon Johnson, vice president of the Garden Club, said Florida observes the holiday in January because it gives the tree time to establish itself before the hot summer months. The Savannah Holly was chosen because it will produce flowers as well as berries to feed the birds around the senior center.