Cary celebrates 35 years as a designated Tree City USA with an Arbor Day celebration in Cary’s Downtown Park featuring live music, free crafts and activities for kids, Q&A with an arborist and more on Saturday, March 17 from 1-3 p.m. The event and all the activities are free, however there will be local food and beverages for available for sale. There will be booths from local green organizations where participants can get tips about growing a green garden, taste local organic food, learn about native plants and more. Don’t miss your chance to take home a free tree for your own yard and be entered for a chance to win a home compost bin! 

The event will open with a short ceremony. The Arbor Day Proclamation will be read and the annual Arbor Day tree will be dedicated in honor of Cary’s 2017 Hometown Spirit Award Winner. 

The Town of Cary is one of the few communities in the state that has been designated as a Tree City USA community for 35 years by the Arbor Day Foundation. Only 38.9% of North Carolinians live in a Tree City USA community. This certification is based on the Town’s investment in the management of its urban forests.

The Spruce program is one of the ways Cary supports the health of its urban forests. Spruce was founded in 2009 to help keep Cary clean and forever green through volunteerism and community outreach focused on reducing litter, beautification and other environmental activities.  Since Spruce was founded, volunteers have planted more than 10,000 trees, shrubs and plants in our community and collected almost 200,000 pounds of litter.

For more information, search “Arbor Day” at www.townofcary.org, visit Spruce and follow Cary It Green on Facebook. And for more fun in Cary, follow the Town on Twitter @TOC_Fun and check out the Meetings and Events Calendar at www.townofcary.org/calendar.