Students with Perry Central’s agriculture class stand next a tree on the school’s memorial trail that was dedicated to the late Hazard Mayor Bill Gorman.
The Perry Central High School Agriculture students last week dedicated a tree on the school’s campus to former Hazard Mayor Bill Gorman.
Memory Lane, the memorial tree trail on Perry Central’s campus, honors those who have passed away that have served or been a part of the community. The trail was started by agriculture teacher Ralph Combs when the new school was built. He said that the campus had no landscaping, so they began planting trees.
Since then, they have dedicated around 25 trees, which is bittersweet to Combs.
“There are at least 25, that is sad to say but there is,” said Combs.
The very first tree was dedicated in 2001 for a teacher that had passed away.
“The first one was a school teacher that we had here, a science teacher, James Miller,” Combs noted.
The first tree started with him, but since then it has grown.”
Combs and his students have been planting trees for several years during peak times of the years, instead of waiting until a dedication needs to be made. This allows them to have mature healthy trees on the campus along with the memorial trail.
Combs said that they honor anyone who has a connection to the community, though the trees are sponsored by individuals.
“We have community leaders, anyone connected with the Perry County School System, civic leaders,” said Combs.
They have also honored Perry County students that have passed away.
“They are all tough, because of cancer and illness, and most of them are young people, students in the school system,” said Combs.
The latest tree dedicated is a maple tree near the entrance of the school. The tree honors long time Hazard Mayor Bill Gorman, who passed away in October 2010.
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