The Nature Conservancy and the city of Chattanooga have joined forces to bring the Conservancy’s interactive tree sign program to three Chattanooga parks: Coolidge Park, Greenway Farm Park and Aquarium Plaza. To celebrate the launch of the “If Trees Could Sing” program in Chattanooga, the public is invited to a free concert event on Earth Day evening, Friday, April 22, at Coolidge Park featuring performances by three Chattanooga-area musical acts: The Bohannons, Danimal Pinson and The Laura Walker Trio.
Mayor Andy Berke, who brought this program to Chattanooga, will introduce the concert with opening remarks.
“Chattanooga is a ‘quality of life’ city," said Mayor Berke. "That means spending time outside, enjoying our beautiful outdoors, and it also means having the opportunity to hear great live music. This unique event provides both of those quality of life opportunities while at the same time providing an educational aspect to help us learn more about the trees that make Chattanooga so
beautiful.”
“If Trees Could Sing” is an interactive tree sign and video program featuring online videos of 30 wellknown musicians – ranging from Reba McEntire, Amy Grant and Ben Folds to Chattanooga’s own Fletcher Bright, Danimal Pinson and The Bohannons – talking about their favorite tree and benefits that trees bring to daily lives. Trees included in the project have been outfitted with signs, each with an artist’s photo and a QR code that, when scanned with a smart phone, takes park visitors to a web video of the artist talking about that specific tree.
The April 22 celebration at Coolidge Park will take place from 6-8 p.m., rain or shine, featuring performances by “If Trees Could Sing” artists The Bohannons and Danimal Pinson along with bluegrass band The Laura Walker Trio.
The public concert is a joint effort of the Chattanooga Tree Commission and The Nature Conservancy. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public. Sponsors include the Chattanooga Tree Commission, The Nature Conservancy, UTC Office of Sustainability, EPB Fiber Optics, green|spaces and CN Utility Consulting. A number of nonprofit exhibitors will be on site for the event, including the Chattanooga Tree Commission, The Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Cumberland Trail, Tennessee Valley Wild Ones, the Land Trust for Tennessee, the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, the Lula Lake Land Trust, the Sierra Club, South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance and more. Food and beverages will be sold on site.
“We’re grateful to Mayor Berke, City Forester Gene Hyde and the Tree Commission for all their help
with ‘If Trees Could Sing’ and this concert," said Nat Williams, interim state director for The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee. "This program is a true partnership, and a perfect fit for the Scenic City. With these new artists and three Chattanooga parks on board, this is an excellent opportunity to spread the message that trees play a vital role in keeping our communities healthy, clean and enjoyable.”
With this new expansion, the colorful tree signs for “If Trees Could Sing” can now be found in 12
parks—three in Chattanooga, three in Nashville, two in Knoxville, three Tennessee State parks, and the Atlanta BeltLine. The Nature Conservancy hopes its website, which includes all the videos, provides an educational resource for teachers, youth, citizen scientists and anyone else curious about tree varieties and their benefits. Aside from the videos, the web pages include information about each species, links to classroom lessons and a map of all tree sign locations in the parks.
The full collection of videos can be found at www.nature.org/IfTreesCouldSing.
Social media hashtags for this event are #EarthDayChattanooga and #ChattanoogaTrees.