Sometimes difficult events bring people and communities
together. This was the case on Wednesday as the Mayor of Tupelo and members of
that City’s Public Works staff visited Louisville with a special delivery.
Mayor Jason Shelton and David Knight, Director of Tupelo Public Works arrived
with a delivery of 25 large oak trees for the City of Louisville to aid in its
continued recovery efforts from the April 28, 2014 tornado.
Said Knight with Tupelo Public Works, “We recognize that
other cities have been affected like we were. We wanted to do this as a gesture
– we are fortunate to be able to help.”
Mayor Shelton noted that “We’ve been through this together –
both of our cities - and we hope that this can help as we all work to build our
cities back, not just as good as they were before the storm but even better.
Louisville Mayor Will Hill expressed his thanks and the thanks
of the city, “Words are inadequate to express our gratitude for this gesture.
This has been in the works for a long time between departments with input from
the Mississippi Extension Service. Memorial Cemetery was the first place that
came to mind as a location for these trees.
Mayor Shelton and I are members of a club that neither of us asked to
belong to- as leaders of a community damaged by storms. This is a way to pay it
forward and we hope that we can pay it forward as well.
According to Louisville Parks and Recreation Director, Todd
McCullough, the variety of oak trees will predominantly be used around the
Memorial Park Cemetery which was so heavily damaged by the 2014 storm.
