Photo at left: Bernard Iwegbu (from left), Donald Batson and Nicholas Maynard, all part of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Forestry, plant a Kwanzan cherry tree on Thursday as Rupert Thomas of Pine Bluff Inspection and Zoning looks on at the Pine Bluff Memorial Gardens, on the corner of State Street and East 10th and 11th avenues. The planting was part of Pine Bluff’s 11th annual Arbor Day commemoration as a Tree City USA, a designation from the Arbor Day Foundation to cities committed to urban forest management. The commemoration began inside the Det. Kevin D. Collins Center at the Civic Center, where Kevin Harris, Jefferson County Extension agent for urban stormwater, revealed Pine Bluff would receive stickers updating its status as Tree City USA to 11 years. Photo at right: Ward 4 council member Steven Mays Sr. (from left), mayoral Chief of Staff Rhonda Hall; Kevin Harris; Rupert Thomas; and Brian Cockrell of the Forestry Division pose with the new sticker. Other celebrations are scheduled for today, National Arbor Day, at Southeast Arkansas College’s McGeorge Seminar Room at 10 a.m. and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s 1890 Extension Building at 1 p.m. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Pine Bluff’s Arbor Day commemoration began Thursday inside the Det. Kevin D. Collins Center at the Civic Center, where Kevin Harris, Jefferson County Extension agent for urban stormwater, revealed Pine Bluff would receive stickers updating its status as Tree City USA to 11 years. From left: Ward 4 council member Steven Mays Sr., mayoral Chief of Staff Rhonda Hall; Harris; Rupert Thomas of Pine Bluff Inspection and Zoning; and Brian Cockrell of the Forestry Division. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)