DAPHNE, Ala. — About 200 people came out of the wood work Feb. 23 for Daphne’s 20th Annual Arbor Day Celebration. Two hours after kick-off, 4,900 trees and a dump-truck of mulch were given away.

Throughout the event, crowds walked around the Village Point Park Preserve gazebo to glean information on each tree type, to choose the best fit for their yards.

The event — which began at 8 a.m. — attracted a number of early birds who were eager to get their greens.

“People started getting here at 7:30 a.m.,” Selena Vaughn, an organizer, said. “It was like a yard sale; people were afraid the good stuff would be gone.”

They were right; from crepe myrtles to magnolias the saplings were gone by 10 a.m. and the event closed early.

Patty Daniel hoped to get trees for her and her neighbor.

“My neighbor picked up some for me last year, so I’m getting some for her this year,” she said.

Daniel wanted redbuds and dogwoods, but she also got a river burch.

“I didn’t even come for that, but I’ve got plenty of yard,” she said.

Frank Head brought his four children to the free-tree festivities. Before moving to Fairhope, he said, he wanted to replace trees removed from his lot to put a trailer there.

Ron and Ev Simon, a Nashville, Tenn., couple retiring to Daphne this year, found vegetation for their Lake Forest residence.

“We bought the lot next to us and cleared out the underbrush,” Ev Simon said. “We wanted to put trees back in, so we came and got redbuds, crepe myrtles, fringe and ginkgo trees.”

Lenora Keel said she came to get flowering trees.

“I love flowers,” she said. “I come every year to get plants for our one-acre on the water.”

Folks backed their trucks up to the mulch give-away area where garbage bags full of fertilizer were loaded by the armfuls.

Gary Ickes, president of Ickes Tree Service, donated the mulch, provided pamphlets on tree care and explained how the fertilizer helps trees grow.

“The mulch helps regulate the soil’s moisture and temperature,” he said. “It also releases nutrients as it breaks down. It provides an environment for beneficial fungi and it keeps the soil loose — the best atmosphere for the roots.”

Another of Saturday’s attractions was a free historic tour of Jackson’s Oak. Groups toured the site at which Gen. Andrew Jackson allegedly delivered a speech to his soldiers during the War of 1812. He spoke from a large branch after traveling from Pensacola, according to guide Al Guarisco.

The tour also showed the landscape of Village Point Park Preserve, with special attention to local trees such as the dwarf pawpaw, a large version of a usually small shrub that bears large, peanut-shaped fruit.

Guarisco pointed out the Hercules’ club, the bark of which was used to cure toothaches by Indians and early settlers.

PICK UP THE MARCH 1 DAPHNE BULLETIN FOR PICTURES FROM DAPHNE'S ARBOR DAY CELEBRATION.