Arbor Day organizers approve up to $3,500 for fall and spring tree giveaways

At a recent meeting of a local tree committee, organizers voted to approve spending up to $2,500 for a fall tree giveaway and $1,000 for a spring tree giveaway, for a combined allotment of $3,500 to buy trees and cover associated event costs.

The vote followed a review of the committee’s available funds and last year’s spending. “This is usually so not only do we need to — the biggest thing that we’re talking about today is we gotta we gotta start hammering down what we’re doing for this Arbor Day deal,” a committee member said during the discussion.

The committee reported $5,101.11 available in its account. Members reviewed last year’s expenditures, including $333 for snacks and supplies, $43.50 for stickers and signage, $500 in contest expenses, $100 for a yoga session and roughly $2,200 for trees; the total recorded expense for last year’s event was $3,126.50. Organizers also said the previous spring giveaway cost about $847 and provided roughly 1,200 bare‑root trees.

Discussion at the meeting covered logistical plans for the Arbor Day event: recruiting exhibitors and educational tables (Master Gardeners, Central Arkansas Nature Center and others), confirming sponsors and in‑kind donors (First Security Bank for food, Elliot Electric for a popcorn sponsor, Kings for music/drumming), arranging power or a generator for sound and popcorn, and ordering tree species and quantities. Committee members discussed keeping costs low, relying on sponsorships and in‑kind donations, and ordering 3‑gallon trees for the fall and bare‑root stock for spring giveaways.

Organizers also discussed outreach and engagement: recruiting volunteers to staff the giveaway, soliciting exhibitors that provide educational activities rather than sales, exploring a poetry contest as an alternative to a photo contest, and coordinating with local groups (university clubs, Girl Scouts, Master Gardeners) for planting and event support. They considered planting a demonstration tree a week before the festival as a promotional opportunity and discussed alternate locations if their usual site at Laurel is unavailable.

The motion to allocate up to $2,500 for fall trees and $1,000 for spring trees was moved and seconded during the meeting and carried. The committee chair asked a member to contact suppliers to place orders and to finalize volunteer roles and exhibitor outreach ahead of the event.

Organizers set a follow‑up meeting date and agreed to continue outreach to sponsors, exhibitors and volunteers; they said they will confirm orders with vendors and report back to the committee on progress.