By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – Montevallo’s 22nd annual Arbor Day celebration has grown to feature more than free trees for all who attend.

“We keep expanding a little at a time,” said Herschel Hale, chair of the Montevallo Arbor and Beautification Board.

The event featured nature photography, tree specialists from the Alabama Forestry Commission, woodturning and much more.

“Trees are important for beautifying Montevallo,” said Bill Legg, a member of the Arbor and Beautification Board.

Green Valley Nursery, Sims Bark and Vance donated saplings, pine bark mulch and potting soil as giveaways for attendees.

“A group of us got started doing the minimum to be a tree city,” Hale said. “It started with just giving away a certain number of trees to citizens, but it grew and we didn’t have the sense to stop.”

City Councilman Rusty Nix said about 400 people attended last year, with about a fourth of the attendees driving in from out of town.

“It’s a good event to bring people into the city,” Nix said.