For two-plus decades, Catasauqua Borough has set aside the last Saturday in April to celebrate Arbor Day. This year, it was April 27. The borough takes this time to recognize community organizations and volunteers who have contributed to the borough.

This year, Robert Bastian, Catasauqua Borough Shade Tree Commission chairman, announced the borough planted trees to honor Susan Hein, who, in addition to her duties with the borough, volunteered her time with the Halloween parade and the George Taylor House. Her tree is at the site of the municipal complex, 90 Bridge St.

Catasauqua High School’s Varsity C Club was honored for its volunteer efforts in the borough.

A tree was planted in honor of Bill Albert, who lived in North Catasauqua and Catasauqua boroughs. The municipal park in North Catasauqua - North Catasauqua William J. Albert Memorial Park - is named after him. Albert was an organizer for the J-4 Celebration and a member of the American Legion, among his other volunteer activities.

A showtime crabapple tree was planted at Race Street park to honor Cub Pack 94 of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. The pack has consistently volunteered time to clean up the municipal park.

Bastian announced a new program allows homeowners to dedicate a tree planted in their yard. Each tree in the borough reduces free-floating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

J. Sterling Morton started Arbor Day in 1872. He was a bit of a firebrand. In his senior year at the University of Michigan, he protested the school’s firing of a popular head of the medical department. The university dismissed him shortly thereafter, six weeks shy of graduation. He ultimately graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.

He moved to Nebraska with his wife and was the editor of Nebraska City News. He became the secretary for the Nebraska Territory.

He began cultivating trees on his farm, and his advanced techniques ultimately earned him a position as secretary of agriculture under former President Grover Cleveland.