TIFTON — When Hurricane Michael fatally damaged an aging water oak on Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s front campus, it was decided to take advantage of the removal to plant a new tree to celebrate Tifton Arbor Day on Oct. 25.

Tifton Mayor Julie Smith read a proclamation declaring Oct. 25 as Tifton Arbor Day.

ABAC forestry students, ABAC Grounds Department, Keep Tift Beautiful, the Tifton Tree Board and City of Tifton officials were on hand to plant the sapling at a ceremony held on the corner of Moore Highway and Davis Avenue, there the old tree’s massive stump could still be seen.

“This is a joint effort from these groups to encourage our community to replant after the storm,” said Lori Felton, who taught environmental horticulture at ABAC and sits on the Tree Board. “We want to encourage everyone to plant and particularly plant native species.”

The tree planted was a live oak, which is the state tree of Georgia and can live for hundreds of years.

Felton said that live oaks were planted throughout the south as timber trees by the United States Navy because they used the exceptionally strong wood to build ships.

The famous USS Constitution was built out of live oak planks that were so strong cannonballs bounced off, leading to the nickname “Old Ironsides,” said Felton.

The live oak is a hardy tree, according to the Arbor Day Foundation website. It can grow to a height of 40 to 80 feet and its limbs may stretch up to 100 feet at full maturity.