Garden Club celebrates Arbor Day in Ocean Pines

(April 9, 2021) The Ocean Pines Garden Club (OPGC) held its annual Arbor Day memorial ceremony on April 8 at Pintail Park in Ocean Pines.  

The event, which the club cancelled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was an opportunity for OPGC members and friends to celebrate the lives of loved ones lost in either 2019 or 2020. 

The tradition of the Arbor Day ceremony in Ocean Pines goes back many years and includes the planting of a tree to recognize the holiday and to memorialize those who passed away. This year's tree was a Yoshino Cherry. 

During the ceremony, club members read the names of loved ones and tolled a bell, and a friend or family member placed a shovelful of dirt around the tree and received a white rose. This year, a second tree also served as memorial to all those lost to COVID-19. 

A series of painted rocks signify memorial trees in Pintail Park and include the tree’s type and the year it was planted.  

OPGC President Patti Lookner and Arbor Day Committee Chairwoman Ann Shockley introduced the program, which also included historical and poetry readings by OPGC members, music by the Delmarva Chorus and bagpiper Mike Castoro, and proclamations from the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors (presented by Association President Larry Perrone) and the Worcester County Commissioners (presented by County Commissioner Chip Bertino). 

The OPGC wishes to thank all who took part in making this event a special one, including the Ocean Pines Public Works landscaping crew, who made sure the park was looking its best. 

For more information or to join the Ocean Pines Garden Club, email Garden Club President Patti Lookner at [email protected].