HOT SPRINGS – The Hot Springs Parks & Recreation Department and the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts (ASMSA) will host a Presidential Tree historical marker presentation at 3 p.m. on Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 17 in the ASMSA Administration Building parking lot. The public is invited to attend.
On March 21, 1994, the Hot Springs Parks & Recreation Department planted a two-year old tulip poplar tree on the lawn of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in recognition of Arbor Day. The tree is one of 1000 descended from President George Washington’s 213-year-old tulip poplar at Mount Vernon.
From 1983 through 1999, 58 of the seedlings were sent to presidential sites and Washington namesakes, and only 12 have survived to be 20 years old. “As Hot Springs is the hometown of President Bill Clinton, and the ASMSA grounds are named Clinton Presidential Park, it is only fitting that this historic tree be located in Hot Springs,” noted ASMSA Development Specialist Vicki Hinz.
The special descendant of President Washington’s tree is the first tree on the right upon entering the parking lot of the ASMSA Administration Building, located at Whittington and Pine streets (visit campus map at http://asmsa.org/contact-us/campus-map-and-directions ). Refreshments will follow in the ASMSA Administration Building Boardroom. For information, call Hinz, 501-622-5110.