3,500 trees given away to county residents

A local organization passed out roughly 3,500 trees in Madison County last week to promote conservation efforts throughout the county.

Celia Miller, the District Administrator of The Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District, said that they had no problem getting rid of the roughly 3,500 tree saplings they ordered for the event.

“Yes, we did give away all of our trees,” Miller said. “Saturday at Kroger, just as soon as I parked my truck a line started forming that took up almost half of the parking lot.”

Friday, they were in Ridgeland. Lauren LaSource of Gluckstadt got some trees including an apple tree sapling. She and her husband, Austin, have some land around Canton where she hopes to plant the trees.

She said they would be a fun demonstration for her three-year-old son, Beau.

“He loves apples and this will be a great nature lesson for him,” LaSource said. “This will show him how stuff grows.”

Miller and volunteers started on Wednesday, Feb. 2, across from the Corner Street Market on Main Street in Flora. The following day, Feb. 3, they were on the Courthouse Square in Canton and on Feb. 4, they parked in front of Ridgeland City Hall. They closed the week on Saturday, Feb. 5, in Madison at the Colony Crossing Kroger.

Giveaway bundles included White Oak, Myrtle Oak and Red Maple tree saplings. They also had flowering tree bundles on offer. These include Red Crepe Myrtles and Flowering Dogwoods for $5. Red Delicious Apple bundles were $20.

Miler said they have been doing the tree giveaway since 1977 and have distributed about a million trees in that time.

“We do this as a community service,” Miller said. “Planting trees can help prevent erosion and replaces trees we have lost throughout the years.”