On Sunday, UK’s Arboretum will celebrate its 25^th anniversary with a Founders Day celebration at 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and will collect items for a time capsule.  

“We are looking for anyone is a friend of the Arboretum or anyone who has any kind of special connection to the Arboretum to attend the inaugural Founders Day,” said Director of the Arboretum Molly Davis.

According to Davis, some of the 80 or so founding members will be present at the event. The 100-acre area was founded in 1991 as a partnership between the City of Lexington and UK, both of which are included in the founding members. The Arboretum’s mission is to promote “education, research and conservation of the natural environment.”

“We’ve done a number of things, and we’re going to do more, to celebrate the founding of the Friends of the Arboretum, who were kind the initial people who recognized a need within the community and worked with the university and the city to create this partnership,” Davis said.

Becoming a Friend of the Arboretum can be done so on the Arboretum’s website. The membership is annual membership and includes subscription to the Arboretum’s quarterly newsletter, email updates from the Arboretum, invites to member-only events and more. Student rates are available at $10, individual memberships cost $35, family or nonprofit organization rates are $50, a supporting membership is $100 and a sponsoring membership is $250.

Other botanical gardens and arboretums host similar events, according to Davis. With the founding members and others involved with the Arboretum gathered, Davis said they hope to put photos and other Arboretum memorabilia in the time capsule.

“We are working with an architect to expand our visitor center so it has more educational opportunities and educational spaces and we hope to be able to put the items that we collect in the time capsule in the cornerstone of the new building,” Davis said.

Davis said the Arboretum is has 80 percent of its $2 million fundraising goal to improve its visitor center but the architectural firm believes the project will require additional funds.

Donating to the Arboretum can be done so through UK’s Online Giving page or by becoming a Friend of the Arboretum.

“We appreciate all of the support of the Arboretum and we are glad to provide a great place for people to learn about plants,” Davis said. “We appreciate any support people can offer.”