Westlake has been granted the honor and privilege of receiving the Tree City USA title for the past 14 years. To help keep the designation, about 20 TD Auto Finance employees and their families joined Town officials and Metheny Landscaping for an Arbor Day event on Saturday to celebrate during Earth Week.
Twenty-five trees were planted on the grounds of TD Auto Finance and 20 trees were given to volunteers at the event.
Metheny Landscaping helped to take down fence, remove brush, and plant the new trees, which were donated by the Town. Afterward, participants were fed a hot dog lunch and the little ones were treated to fire truck tours, courtesy of Westlake Fire Department.
The Westlake event was one of many for the financial company that week. From a tree planting in Detroit, to an ocean clean up in Jacksonville, Florida, Earth Week activities were held simultaneously across the nation for TD Auto Finance, the auto finance arm of TD Bank.
Sean Joyce, regional facility manager at TD Auto Finance, said the financial company encourages employees to take a green pledge, where they make a commitment to be earth friendly every day.
“Whether it’s not running the water while brushing your teeth, or using a shovel instead of a snowplow,” Joyce said. “We are really trying to make an impact on our community…We have a very giving population in our building.”
In addition to the tree planting event, Arbor Day activities were held at Westlake Academy. A Fort Worth regional forester made a special visit to the school and spoke to students about the importance of planting trees, and the proper way to plant and care for newly planted trees. Students also received educational pamphlets and an Arbor ay bracelet.
The national Tree City USA program provides the framework for community forestry management across America. Communities such as Westlake achieve Tree City USA status by meeting four core standards of sound urban forestry management: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day.
Visit www.westlake-tx.org