CLASS TREES TAKE ROOT IN A TRADITION THAT SPANS GENERATIONS

BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 17 -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release:

Roy Powell '72 dropped a penny into the soil next to the root ball of a loblolly pine being planted 30 yards from Cheatham Hall on April 23, continuing his traditional role in the planting of a tree commemorating a graduating class from theCollege of Natural Resources and Environment.

Powell, Mark Stockwell '72, and Ollie Kitchens '72attend the tree planting each year, honoring their own class by adding a penny minted in 1972 to the large hole dug for the tree's root ball.

The tree tradition started with the Class of 1972, but it did not take root as an annual event until the mid-1980s. To date, 41 trees have been planted to...