Garden club donates magnolia tree to Arlington Cemetery

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Posted 11:42AM on Monday, August 26, 2002

ATLANTA - Members of the Magnolia Garden Club in Atlanta will visit Arlington National Cemetery next month to dedicate a magnolia tree to victims killed at the Pentagon in the Sept. 11 attacks. The 40-member group initially planned to donate money, but decided a 10-foot magnolia tree would be a far more lasting gift. "We were feeling really bad about the situation, and knowing so much was being done next month for the New York victims, we wanted to do something for Washington," said Linda Smith, Magnolia Garden Club president. Lynn Wright, a garden club member, had heard that Arlington Cemetery was replacing many of its trees that had died so she contacted officials there. "Someday, as relatives of those victims come back and visit those grave sites in the heat of the summer, hopefully they'll appreciate that shade," Wright said. Erik Dihle, a horticulturist for Arlington National Cemetery, said the club is the only group in the nation to come forward with such a memorial. "We're grateful they're doing this, because we have lots of locations where trees are missing," he said. About 60 Pentagon victims were buried at Arlington Cemetery. Smith said 27 garden club members will travel to Arlington on Sept. 11 to hold a private ceremony dedicating the tree, which already has been planted on the site overlooking the Pentagon. The 10-foot Magnolia is valued at $1,200. It was planted in a small valley beside the headstones of the Pentagon victims.