The city of Arnold is inviting children who are school aged or younger to create and submit posters in advance of its Earth Day celebration late this month.
The top three winners in the poster contest will receive cash prizes.
During the celebration, the city will plant a tree in honor of the city’s 50th anniversary of its incorporation in 1972.
The tree-planting ceremony will be at 11 a.m. Friday, April 22, at the Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road. Along with the planting, the winners of the poster contest will be announced, said Teresa Kohut, recreation supervisor for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
The city will plant a swamp white oak tree, which the Arbor Day Foundation website describes as a shade or street tree with the ability to grow at a moderate pace and live more than 300 years. It’s the kind of tree you plant for not only your enjoyment but also for the benefit of generations to come.
Kohut said a plaque commemorating Arnold’s incorporation five decades ago will be placed near the tree.
The Arnold Parks and Recreation Department is accepting poster contest entries at the rec center. The deadline to submit a poster is Wednesday, April 20.
Kohut said children are encouraged to create an illustrated poster depicting environmental issues or something people can do to help protect the Earth.
“There are any number of things people can do to show their love for the Earth, like planting a tree or flower garden,” she said. “Posters can be about the depletion of the ozone layer and what can be done to stem its depletion, picking up trash or recycling. It is anything someone can think of and express it as a picture on a poster.”
Kohut said the contest will be divided into two age groups with one for those in fifth grade and lower and the other group for those in sixth grade through 12th grade.
The submissions will be displayed in the entry hallway in the rec center.
Kohut said parks department employees will judge the entries and award $100 to the first-place winner, $75 for second and $50 for third in each submission group.
“We will judge the posters by the thought and effort put into the message, not the artwork,” she said.
For more information about the poster contest or the tree-planting ceremony, call Kohut at 636-282-6686 or email her at tkohut@arnoldmo.org.