The Azle Senior Center’s newest permanent member is itself quite the youngster. A Japanese maple sapling — named “Beatrees” by the city’s Community and Marketing Specialist Kristen Pegues — was planted on the grounds outside the BJ Clark Building to commemorate Earth Day, April 22. City administrators, council members and Azle residents gathered at the senior center for the event to celebrate the holiday as well as Azle’s recognition as an official Tree City for its third consecutive year.
“It’s an honor to have to live in a community that we do cherish wildlife. We cherish the habitat. We cherish the trees,” council member Stacy Peek said. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to do this. It was an ambition of mine several years ago, before I came on council, when I saw some of what I consider to be devastation to the trees, to the habitat and the community, and it was kind of my mission, I guess I would say, to work to preserve the trees here in Azle. What we have here is so rare, and you don’t find it really in the DFW area. That’s why I moved out here. That’s why so many people have come out here to live in this environment. So, I’m proud that we can do this now. I mean, my goal is to someday restore everything that’s been lost.”
While planting a tree on Earth Day is a relatively new tradition in Azle — Director of Planning and Development David Hawkins recalled it starting at an Azle Elementary ceremony last year — the spirit of conservation has deep roots. Peek recalled the outcry during her first campaign for city council after around 68,000 trees were cleared for a Lennar housing development at Azle Grove. Azle’s identity as a “city within the trees” was invoked often during that time and continues to fuel local environmental efforts.
