(left to right) Lee Logan, Billy Cook, Dr. Janice Haldeman, and Joe Ellis

Billy Cook, CEO of Abbeville Savings and Loan, came to the Erskine College campus today to present a donation to help fund a campus and community arboretum project.

"We earn our income from the citizens of Abbeville County, and we like to turn around and give some of it back to the community," said Cook.

Lee Logan, Erskine's Vice President for Development, was on hand to meet with Cook and Erskine alumnus Joe Ellis, who is a member of the Abbeville Savings and Loan board.

"We have a beautiful campus with some unusual plant species," said Logan. "Now, with the good help of the Abbeville Savings and Loan, this will be noticed, appreciated and utilized by visitors and in our botany program."

Dr. Janice Haldeman, Professor Emerita of Biology at Erskine College, who also met with Cook and Ellis, said most universities have arboreta, where trees and shrubs are preserved and cultivated for scientific and educational purposes.

"Sometimes an arboretum is a designated land area that is planted with specific trees," said Haldeman. "And sometimes an existing natural area is chosen because it contains certain trees."

The arboretum planned for Erskine and the Due West community will extend through the campus and town, and will include the Due West Retirement Center. "The retirement center has some trees that we do not have on campus, some interesting trees that were preserved when the center was built," said Haldeman.

The Abbeville County area has remained relatively rural, Haldeman said, and Due West, in northern Abbeville County, has been even less affected by development and contains a number of tree species, some that were part of the original landscape and some that were planted during the long history of the community.

"The community and campus already have a treasure to conserve as well as display," said Haldeman. "The arboretum will be established as a conservatory, a living laboratory, and an outdoor classroom for students of all ages as well as the general public."

The Abbeville Savings and Loan gift will be used to produce a brochure that includes a map of the campus and community showing a path along which selected trees will be identified with labels, Haldeman said.

"This donation from Abbeville Savings and Loan will add to funds received for the same project from the Josephine Stevenson Community Charitable Trust," Haldeman said.

"We are very grateful for this help," said Logan.