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The City of LaGrange celebrated Arbor Day on Friday at Sweetland Amphitheatre.

The city annually celebrates Arbor Day by planting a tree or trees around the city with the assistance of community leaders, city staff and garden clubs.

LaGrange has been recognized as a Tree City USA for 22 years.

Alton West, director of community development, gave a speech on what it means to be a Tree City, the standards of the recognition and highlighted several members of the city crew.

West highlighted some of the top moments of the celebration in an interview.

He said it was a beautiful day at the amphitheater with all of the guests in attendance.

“We have Mayor Thornton that was here to issue the proclamation. We got Jim Arrington, who is on the tree board and also a councilman. We have arbors that are here,” West said.

“It’s just a beautiful day to plant a tree. As we plant a tree, we’ve got God raining his tears down on it to water it.”

Thornton said in an interview that it was a wonderful opportunity to plant the tree.

“Every day is a great day to plant a tree, but we’re excited today to be celebrating Arbor Day. It’s an opportunity for us to remind each other how beautiful the tree canopy is in LaGrange,” Thornton said.
“The green spaces are something that we shouldn’t take for granted. They’re things that require constant maintenance and the city of LaGrange will continue to do that because this makes for an attractive community.”