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By JOYANNA LOVE | Managing Editor

Community members with an eye for natural beauty and thoughts of the future found what they were looking for at the annual Arbor Week tree giveaway in Clanton.

Community members Virginia Church and Janice Dennis both came to the event looking to replace trees on their properties.

Church specifically wanted to find dogwood trees, which are her favorites.

“I love to see them bloom in the spring,” Church said. “The one I had got hit by lightning and died, and I am trying to replace it.”

Dennis also has a fondness for dogwoods.

“They are just so pretty,” she said.

At the Arbor Week event, Dennis was looking for trees to replace hardwoods that had been cut down on her property.

Dennis said she had planted some trees from the event last year, and they are growing well.

The annual tree giveaway is a project of the Chilton County Natural Resources Council, which include members from the Chilton County Master Gardeners, the Alabama Forestry Commission and other organizations.

Pat Farmer of the Chilton County Master Gardeners said the event is a way for the council to give back to the community.

Brian Smith of the Alabama Forestry Commission said there was a wider selection of trees this year, thanks to a grant that the natural resources council received. He said any trees that were not given away would go to a different resource council nearby that was hosting a similar event.

Smith said he enjoys seeing the community come out and getting to work with other council members at the event each year.