The city of Santa Clarita willhost its 19th Annual Arbor Day celebration from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at Central Park.

This year's celebration marks the 18th consecutive year that Santa Clarita will be honored by the National Arbor Day Foundation with the prestigious "Tree City USA" award, and the fourthyear the city will receive the "Growth Award."

Each year, the city hosts the Arbor Day celebration to educate residents about the benefits of trees as part of the world-recognized Arbor Day holiday. To kick off the event and receive the honors, the State Forrester, Abigail Srader, will be presenting the awards to Mayor Bob Kellar as part of the opening ceremonies.

"The goal for Arbor Day is to show Santa Clarita residents how important trees are to our community and to give them the knowledge they need to care for their environment," said Robert Sartain, arborist and urban forestry supervisor for the City. "We need everyone's help to maintain the City's great reputation as a clean and beautiful place to live."

There will be numerous events and excitement at the April 12 celebration including free giveaways, food, live entertainment, a raffle and kid's activities.

At the celebration, the city will be handing out 1,000 trees, 1,000 bags of mulch and 150,000 free lady bugs to help control tree and garden pests and reduce the need for pesticides.

The Energy Coalition will be giving away two free compact florescent light bulbs to each household in honor of Arbor Day. There will also be ten free garden gourmet bins given to the first ten people to sign up and attend the compost workshop.

Vendor booths will include Route 66 Classic Grill and Buon Gusto, an Italian eatery, which will be selling its signature Italian ice. Live music from local band Mid Life Crisis will be playing on the main stage.

The SCV Optimist Group will be in attendance and will perform kid ID fingerprinting.

In addition, the ceramic art store Color Me Mine will have tile painting and stenciling activities and the City Parkmobile will conduct face painting and flower potting projects for the kids.

More kid's activities include will Jacob's ladder, an inflated obstacle course, a rock wall and a jumbo bounce.

Central Park is located at 27250 Bouquet Canyon Road, Santa Clarita.

For more information about this event, please contact Sartain at 661-294-2518 or visit the city's Web site at www.santaclarita.com.