North Augusta celebrates Arbor Day with tree planting in Riverview Park

Samantha Winn, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Dec. 6—Bringing more trees to North Augusta, the city celebrated Arbor Day with its annual tree planting ceremony at Riverview Park.

The newly planted tree, located at the Fairfield Avenue entrance of Riverview Park, is a streetwise red oak provided by Select Trees and Carolina Hills Garden Club.

"I think it is fantastic that, for our last five or six years, the city of North Augusta has celebrated Arbor Day and have planted a tree," North Augusta Mayor Briton Williams said. "I will tell you that it is pretty evident that the city of North Augusta is a very good steward of their natural resources and wetlands, and I give a lot of that credit to Roy Kilber."

Kibler, the superintendent of property maintenance, said the city has been doing Arbor Day tree plantings since 2015.

Arbor Day celebrates wildlife, plants, and the maintenance of trees across the world. The city observed the holiday on Dec. 4, along with other South Carolina communities.

North Augusta is a Tree City USA and allocated $11.6 dollars per capita toward planting trees, helping curb CO2 emissions in the air and helping create green spaces.

"One of the reasons why we became a Tree City USA was we wanted to make sure that we were helping join traffic; it cuts down in urban areas," Kibler said. "... Trees reduce your energy cost by 25 percent by shading buildings, and homes with trees tend to have a higher property value. So, if you got a home and you got trees around it, it is worth more money."

"Most importantly, publicly demonstrating our commitment to the environment is a great way to build pride among residents as well as positioning the North Augusta community as an attractive place to live. The work that we do helps bring citizens from other areas to come and relocate here," Kibler said. "I take it dear to my heart that that is one of the reasons why people do come to live in North Augusta because of how North Augusta looks, and our street-lined trees and our parks and what we do and how we care for things goes a long way to that effort."

Holly Park, whose kids and husband helped plant the tree in Riverview Park, was excited to create this memory with her family.

"It's very special to me because this is something my husband is truly passionate about, and he actually went to Athens to pick up the tree. So it is nice to see him plant a tree with his children that we can always come back and visit years down the road," Park said.

Samantha Winn covers the city of North Augusta, with a focus on government and community oriented business. Follow her on Twitter: @samanthamwinn and on Facebook and Instagram: @swinnnews.