Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky celebrated Arbor Day by welcoming 45 fourth graders from Second Street School in Frankfort for an educational, hands-on event that taught them about the importance of trees and how to plant and care for them.
“We think it’s important to give back to the community, so today’s event was twofold, educating future generations about the importance of trees, which are vital to our industry, and also donating some of our Single Oak Bourbon to four very worthy organizations, who we hope can raise lots of money for their environmental causes,” said Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley.
People are sometimes surprised to see school buses at a distillery but if you take a step back and look at the big picture, there is a lot to learn at a distillery for people of all ages. Yes, distilleries make distilled spirits, but they are also businesses, and these businesses contribute a lot to their local communities. Distilleries can take students on a spirit’s journey from farm to table. It starts with the geology of limestone rich water, farming of the grains, planting and harvesting of the trees that make the barrels, science, math, marketing, sales, distribution, tourism, history, and law. Not to mention it is also a multi-billion-dollar industry throughout the world.
Guest speakers Laura DeWald, Ph.D., tree improvement specialist, University of Kentucky spoke to the fourth graders about competition among trees in the forest, and Michael Mueller, president, Inside Out Landscape Design spoke to the group about butterfly and moth species hosted by the tree species which will be planted. Afterwards, Buffalo Trace team members assisted the school children with the planting of a tree of their choice on the farm at Buffalo Trace, from red oak, eastern white pine, scarlet oak and flowering dogwood. Each child also left with a sapling to plant at home.
Bottles of Single Oak Project Bourbon Handed Out
Before the students arrived, Buffalo Trace awarded bottles of its Single Oak Project Bourbon to four environmentally focused nonprofit organizations whose missions support environmental education, preservation and sustainability.
Representatives from Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Blackacre Conservancy and White Oak Initiative were on hand to receive the donation and will be holding fundraising events later this year with the bourbon. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation will be pairing up with the White Oak Initiative on its fundraising efforts. The Single Oak Project Bourbon bottles are part of Buffalo Trace’s pledge to donate 2,022 bottles in the year 2022 to various nonprofits globally for fundraising purposes.
Did You Know that Buffalo Trace Distillery is an Accredited Arboretum?
An arboretum is an area developed to specimen plantings of trees and shrubs. In a sense, it’s an outdoor museum of trees grown for research, educational experiences, ornamental purposes or simply their sheer beauty.
If you’ve had the opportunity to visit and walk around the distillery you know there are lots of natural beauty surrounding the distillery. In 2021 Buffalo Trace Distillery, which has accessioned close to 4,000 plants, has been awarded Level II arboretum accreditation by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity, and professionalism. Buffalo Trace Distillery is now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.
Buffalo Trace Distillery even offers an Arboretum and Botanical Garden Tour where fans can explore the Albert B. Blanton Botanical Gardens and Bird Sanctuary which surround his historic 1934 residence.
Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich tradition dates back to 1775 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee. Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is a National Historic Landmark as well as is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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