Children, base leaders plant tree for Arbor Day Published May 4, 2011 By Kenji Thuloweit 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- An exceptionally chilly and windy spring morning couldn't stop base leadership and children from planting a new tree on Arbor Day, April 29. Col. Harry Berry, 95th Air Base Wing acting vice commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Bill Thomaston, 95th ABW command chief, stopped by the Child Development Center to celebrate Arbor Day by helping to plant a new pink velour crape myrtle tree. More than 50 children from all ages at the School Age Annex braved the chilly winds and came out to assist Colonel Berry and Chief Thomaston by taking turns shoveling dirt and watering the new tree. "This year we decided to celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day on the same day," said Karen Bradshaw, 95th Civil Engineer Division. The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton, a Nebraska journalist and politician originally from Michigan. Throughout his career, Mr. Morton worked to improve agricultural techniques in his adopted state and throughout the United States when he served as President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture. But his most noted legacy is Arbor Day. Today, Arbor Day is celebrated in all 50 states and in several countries. Pink velour crape myrtles are ornamental trees. The pink blooms will last for months and can grow to a spread of 8 to 10 feet. Ms. Bradshaw said the tree was chosen because the pink will match the surrounding shrubbery and it will be interesting for the children to watch it grow. It's also drought tolerant.