![Mayor Wesley Meiss and council persons Pat Lunsford, Alan Lowery and Jeff Snow cover the base of the tree with dirt. [ALICIA ADAMS | Press Gazette]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-6b280857-d13e-0695-e053-0100007fa5b4-678f9f0b-scaled.jpeg)
MILTON — Milton Mayor Wesley Meiss, city staff and elected officials celebrated Arbor Day Friday by planting a 12-foot Brackens Brown Beauty Magnolia tree. This is the 24th year the city has planted a tree for this holiday, and the second year since Milton was recertified as a national Tree City.
Meiss delivered a proclamation following a payer by Councilman Jeff Snow.
"Milton was developed because of the longleaf yellow pine," Meiss said. "At the peak, there were about a dozen [sawmills] up and down the banks of this river (Blackwater River)… The mills didn't last forever, but they had a long-lasting effect on the area economy."
Meiss, Snow, Councilman Alan Lowery, Councilwoman Pat Lunsford and City Clerk Dewitt Nobles christened the new tree by covering the base with dirt.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton plants tree in honor of Arbor Day