Newton County residents have the perfect opportunity to get some free shade for their properties this week when the Newton County Soil and Water Conversation District host their annual Tree Giveaway on Thursday.
Scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Feb. 5 at their office located at 76 Little Rock Decatur Road in Decatur, the district will be giving out one bundle of trees per family from Newton County. Each bundle will include 12 trees, consisting of: 2 -Sugar Maples, 2-Sawtooth Oaks, 2-Nuttall Oaks, 2-White Flowering Dogwoods, 2-Persimmons, and 2-Chinese Chestnuts.
District Technician Emile Smith said that Thursday’s process of distributing the trees is pretty straight forward.
“All they have to do is be a landowner in Newton County, come and sign in, and get their bundle,” she said. “We’ll be out in our parking lot handing out trees until we run out.”
Prior to the handout, Smith said that the Newton County High School’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) students will once again help the district by bundling the trees once they arrive, adding they are a huge help to the districts event.
“Michael Breland is their advisor and they’re always to so good about helping us bundle the trees,” said Smith. “We take them over there on Wednesday, and we’ll bundle them all up for handing out the next day.”
The Newton County Soil and Water Conservation District tree giveaway aims to help residents preserve local natural resources and encourage environmental stewardship by promoting the planting of trees to enhance community forests, improve wildlife habitats, and foster conservation education among citizens.
