ELLOREE -- Arbor Day, celebrated all over the United States and the world, is observed on the first Friday in December in South Carolina because that is the time when plants are dormant, there is usually plenty of rainfall and a tree's roots suffer less from the shock of transplanting. The Latin word for "tree" is "arbor."

To commemorate Arbor Day, the Elloree Garden Club planted an "Okame" cherry tree in Joe Miller Park on Dec. 7, and Elloree Mayor Van Stickles issued a proclamation. The Rev. Phillip Coggins of Elloree's Trinity Lutheran Church gave the invocation.

"This tree belongs to each one of us," Stickles said, commending Garden Club President Cindy Lane and members of the club for their continued beautification of Elloree and for enhancing the quality of life for its residents.

Sarah Ann Parler, Elloree Garden Club member and former president of the Garden Clubs of South Carolina Inc., West Low Country District, presented a history of Arbor Day.

"The Elloree Garden Club has planted 67 crepe myrtle and maple trees on Old Highway Number Six in the past 10 years," Parler noted.

The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902), a Nebraska journalist and politician. Nebraska's first Arbor Day was an amazing success and more than one million trees were planted.

All over the world, people plant trees in their yards and in their communities, caring for them and learning about their value. In other countries, the holiday may be called Arbor Week, Tree Holiday or Tree Festival. In Japan, it is called Greening Week. In Israel, it is called the New Year's Day of the Trees. Korea has a Tree Loving Week, and India celebrates a National Festival of Tree Planting.

"Wherever we live, trees are important to us all," Parler said.

Parler enumerated the many benefits of trees such as: providing shade to keep people cool and homes cool in the summer; creating vital oxygen through photosynthesis which is needed to breathe; providing protection from wind and reduction of noise pollution; absorbing harmful pollutants and small particles from the air which could damage the lungs; providing a home and food for wildlife and beauty to look at and to listen to as leaves rustle in the breeze.

T&D Correspondent Shirley Upton can be reached by e-mail at writer@ntinet.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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