For more than three decades, Columbia has been recognized by the national Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA, thanks to the efforts of the Columbia Borough Shade Tree Commission, the Columbia Tree Society and the Columbia Park Rangers. The groups will hold the 31st annual Arbor Day Celebration at Zion Hill Cemetery, 553 N. Fifth St., Columbia, on Friday, April 28. The event will begin at 6 p.m.

Established in 1920, the cemetery was the primary burial ground for Columbia's Black population into the 1940s. Chris Vera, president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, will serve as master of ceremonies for the Arbor Day event, said event organizer Bill Kloidt, who noted that the society has taken an active role in restoring the cemetery over the past few years.

At the Arbor Day event, the Rev. Patricia S. McAllister, pastor of Mount Zion AME Church in Columbia, will offer an invocation and benediction. Amy Evans, chair of the Columbia Borough Shade Tree Commission, will give welcoming remarks. Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz will present the Arbor Day proclamation, and Columbia Borough Council president Heather Zink will also speak. Columbia will receive its 31st consecutive Tree City USA Award from a representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry.

The celebration will also include cash prizes awarded to the top three winners of a coloring contest open to second-grade students at Our Lady of the Angels School and Park Elementary School. Columbia High School concert choir members will perform musical selections under the direction of Elizabeth Baker. Boy Scout Troop 35 and Cub Scout Pack 35 will open the ceremony with the Pledge of Allegiance. Frontier Girls Troops 191 and 202 will assist in the distribution of program booklets.

Smokey Bear, portrayed by Brian Rhoads of Northern Lancaster County Forest Fire Company, and Johnny Appleseed, portrayed by Ryan Shoff, will also be present, and Shoff will hand out apples to children in attendance.

"This year's ceremony will be dedicated to Cliff Edmond and Sam Edmond," Kloidt shared. "Cliff was instrumental in documenting and identifying grave sites in the cemetery to preserve its history, and Sam (will be recognized) for his community service work." Sandra Duncan will also be recognized for serving as honorary chairperson of the 2023 annual membership drive of the Columbia Tree Society. A Lifetime Membership will be presented to John Hinkle Jr., and a Perpetual Memorial Membership will be presented in memory of David Burke, who passed away in 2009.

Columbia High School senior Isaiah Spencer, the son of Tony and Crystal Spencer, will recite Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees" during the ceremony. At Columbia High School, Isaiah is a member of the theater club, chorus, marching band and football and track and field teams. He plans to attend Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology to study mechanical engineering after graduation.

People attending the Arbor Day Celebration should bring lawn chairs. Parking will be available in the Victory Church parking lot south of the cemetery.

For more information on the Columbia Borough Shade Tree Commission, leave a message for Amy Evans at the Columbia Borough Office at 717-684-2467.