[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/0zn6X1gLfnc” height=”340″]

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — The City of Prestonsburg celebrated Arbor Day Thursday morning by planting trees in a local park. Each tree planted represented a specific group in the city.

“It’s representative to people. It’s spiritual for people,” said Prestonsburg Mayor Les Stapleton. “There’s nothing more relaxing to me than to get out in the hills and to walk through the hills. If I could just go sit at the base of a tree and relax, so there’s a lot of importance to the trees in my opinion.”

The park has had several unofficial names throughout it’s lifetime. During Thursday’s ceremony the city unveiled an official name for the park.

“We put it on Facebook. We had people make suggestions. We had three top suggestions,” added Stapleton. “The winner was Star City Park, which is fitting us being a star city.” 

During the celebration, Mayor Les Stapleton read the city’s proclamation declaring Thursday Arbor Day, Tree City presented a flag and participants were able to learn about tree grafting.

“We get benefits from the beauty it brings and that’s what it’s all about,” said Stapleton. “We want people to see the beauty of our town and the prettier it is, the easier it is for us to bring people in.”

The Floyd County Conservation District invited those in attendance to take a tree home. Those trees were provided by the conservation district.