‘It’s a work of love’: Cullman celebrates Tree City USA recognition as students honor Arbor Day
Published 7:16 pm Friday, February 21, 2025
Liam Hines, right, shows off his grand prize, a hand made quilt. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Poster winners, from left, are First place, Charli Rae Taylor (East Elementary); Honorable mention, Marika Podnecky (East Elementary); Honorable mention, Cassidy Kretzschmar (West Elementary); Honorable mention, Mary Catherine McBride (Sacred Heart); Second place, Breaker Baswell (East Elementary); Grand prize winner Liam Hines (Sacred Heart Catholic School); First place, Lordes Pruitt (St. Paul’s Lutheran School); Second place, Keaton Marotz (St. Paul’s); Second place, Hugh Marshall (Sacred Heart); and Honorable mention, Arden Brock (East Elementary). Not pictured are Layton Wray, Zoey Watson (West Elementary), Juliet Sims (West Elementary) and Addison Saylor (West Elementary). Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs is at right and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton is at left. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton display the Tree City USA flag presented to the city of Cullman. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton shows off a block for the grand prize quilt gifted to Tracy Holmes. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
This hand made quilt by Freda Dooley, with monograming by Kathy McLeroy with additional quilting by Kim Kaempffe and sponsored by Cullman Savings Bank, was the grand prize for the poster contest. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Freda Dooley talks about the design and creation of the quilt given as a grand prize. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton shows off the commission's new official logo. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Arden Brock with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Breaker Baswell with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Cassidy Kretzschmar with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Juliet Sims with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Hugh Marshall with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Keaton Marotz with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Grand prize winner Liam Hines with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Lordes Pruitt with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Marika Podnecky with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Mary Catherine McBride with, from left, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs, Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
For the 37th year, the city of Cullman has been named a Tree City USA.
The Thursday, Feb. 20, dedication — held in conjunction with Arbor Day week celebration — was an opportunity to highlight the city’s longstanding commitment to tree preservation and planting. Mary Claire Gamble from the Forestry Commission, noted that the city received the Growth Award for the third consecutive year, a unique achievement in North Alabama.
“We’re the only city in North Alabama that gets the growth award. So that’s kind of special,” Gamble said.
Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs and Tree Commission Chairman Barry Slatton joined Gamble in recognizing local student artists for their contributions to the annual Arbor Day poster contest. The posters are displayed at the Cullman Aquatic Center.
Liam Hines was awarded the Tree Commission’s grand prize, a quilt hand made by Freda Dooley with monograming by Kathy McLeroy with additional quilting by Kim Kaempffe and sponsored by Cullman Savings Bank.
“What we decided to do several years ago was to make this a very, very special event. And what we did is, we decided that we would make a tree quilt,” explained Slatton. “This quilt is going to the grand prize winner. This quilt will probably be in the family for generations to come.”
Hines teacher, Tracy Holmes received a single block of the quilt.
Winners include:
— First places – Juliet Sims (West Elementary), Charli Rae Taylor (East Elementary), Lordes Pruitt (St. Paul’s Lutheran School) and Hines (Sacred Heart Catholic School).
— Second places – Zoey Watson (West Elementary), Breaker Baswell (East Elementary), Keaton Marotz (St. Paul’s) and Hugh Marshall (Sacred Heart).
— Honorable mentions – Cassidy Kretzschmar, Layton Wray and Addison Saylor (West Elementary), Mary Catherine McBride (Sacred Heart), and Marika Podnecky and Arden Brock (East Elementary).
First place winners were awarded $50, while second place winners received $25.
During the tree commission’s meeting prior to the reception, Slatton spoke about the importance of the environmental work done by the commission, arborists, volunteers and the children who participate in events like the poster contest and annual parade of trees event.
“It’s a work of love. It takes a lot of work from a lot of different people doing a lot of different things to make all this happen. And I want to express my appreciation to all the board members and to all of the other people that work to make this possible, including our sponsors,” Slatton said.
“What we try to do is enhance the children’s understanding of nature and truths and why it’s so important that we take care of these natural resources, and we try to be sure that the children have fun in the poster contest … showing just a small segment of nature. Hopefully, it will develop their appreciation for the trees that we have in the city. And hopefully, maybe one or two may decide to go into (forestry career) full time, maybe be an arborist, or maybe be in a conservation group or an environmental group, or master gardeners or other people that really care about nature and want to do what’s best.
