(HC) DNC28carter_ Former president Jimmy Carter, center, and his wife Rosalyn, right, and their grand son Jason are tree planting during their participating in the day service with the Georgia Delegation at Bicentennial Park in Aurora on Wednesday. D …
ATLANTA - In honor of former President Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday, Trees Atlanta will plant 100 trees at The Carter Center, plus another at a second symbolic location.
On October 1, Carter will join the centennial club. But Georgia has been celebrating the humanitarian for weeks.
In mid-September, a star-studded musical gala was held at Fox Theater. Just days later, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation in Ohio.
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100 trees for Jimmy Carter
The first tree will be planted at 10 a.m. at the Georgia State Capitol next to the Jimmy Carter statue. The second will be planted at noon at The Carter Center at the campus entrance.
Bronze statue of President Jimmy Carter, State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo By: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The other 99 will be planted around The Carter Center between October 2024 and March 2025.
Every tree will be a live oak, the official state tree of Georgia. The live oak, known to be a strong, hard wood, was also used for shipbuilding back in the day. It serves as a nod to former President Carter's service in the U.S. Navy as well as his own fortitude and resilience.
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This is the second time Trees Atlanta has given the gift of Mother Nature to the 39th president. For his 80th birthday, he was given a Georgia Oak.
Greg Levine, the executive director of Trees Atlanta noted Carter's love of the outdoors, marked by the time he spent working on his family's farm.
"We hope that he’ll love this gift," he said.
"From the Carters' creation of a tree farm in the 1950s near Plains to their interest in the trees on the Carter Presidential Center grounds, we see their values have always been larger than themselves," said Dr. Meredith Evans, the director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. "They understood that simple gestures like planting and caring for trees help our environment, community, and spirit. Trees, among other things, keep the air and water clean and our minds tranquil. This prolongs the longevity of healthy lives as President Carter has shown us."