Local students celebrate Arbor Day by planting new trees

Students in Lind and Ritzville celebrated Arbor Day through donations of Ponderosa Pine trees and assisting the City of Ritzville with planting new trees.

On April 26, Adams County Tree Board Member Mike Schrag and Umpqua Bank Manager Chad Hoeft visited the Ritzville Grade School fourth grade class, and the fourth and fifth grade class in Lind.

Through a donation from Umpqua Bank, each student received a starter kit to plant a Ponderosa Pine Tree.

During the Arbor Day celebration at Ritzville City Park on April 29, three fifth grade students received recongition for their essays about their favorite tree.

The first place essay belonged to Veronica Ramirez-Gaspar, second place went to Hayden Melcher and Chase Galbreath received third place.

The Tree Board presented the winners with their choice of three trees to take home, a plum tree, an apple tree and a peach tree.

The reciting of their essays was followed by the planting of four Crab Apple Trees in the park.

Also during the celebration, the Boy Scout Troop 888 posted the colors and the City of Ritzville received designation as a Tree City USA for the sixth year.

Willow Tree, By Veronica Ramirez-Gaspar

Do you have a tree you love?

Well I do my favorite tree is called a willow tree it’s my favorite tree because it drops over, and it looks pretty in the sunlight and it looks pretty next to the water.

This will help you how a willow tree looks. Willow trees grow so low to the ground they are called creeping shrubs, but most willow tree grow to be 40 or more feet tall. 2. It drops over, 3. The leaves are big,

4. It can be different colors.

There is something I never knew about willow trees for me it’s weird that before asprin was introduced people would chew on the bark of the white willow tree. Isn’t that crazy I never in my whole life knew that.

Did you know a white willow tree contains salicin a chemical similar to acetylsalicylic acid found in today’s asprin?

I wish I had a willow tree in my backyard and front yard to have shade read under there and even more stuff I loved a willow tree sense I was small.

If you have a tree you love well even though I haven’t seen your favorite tree well it is wonderful.

If you want to know about willow trees search up http://www.garden.lovetoknow.com.

Douglas Fir, By Hayden Melcher

My favorite tree is the Douglas fir. It is also known as red fir and Oregon pine, but to many people like me, it’s a Christmas tree.

Douglas firs are my favorite tree because I see them all the time in the mountains when my dad and I go snowboarding or skiing. Also, real or fake when I see Douglas firs they remind me of my favorite holiday which is Christmas. That’s when my family and I get together and decorate the tree and wrap each other’s presents and put them under the tree.

Some facts about Douglas firs are that they live and grow up to a 1,000 years old. Their diameter can be 5 to 8 feet when fully grown. They are dark green to blue green in color, and have soft needles and a nice fragrance. According to http://www.realChristmastrees.org they are also the top Christmas tree species in the United States. Last, but not least, they can grow up to be anywhere between 70 to 250 feet tall.

With all that being said, the Douglas fir is a magnificent tree. It’s not only a strong, majestic looking tree, it also reminds me of our fun family traditions at Christmas.

Sunland Baobab, By Chase Galbreath

What tree is fat and tall with a lot of branches? It’s a Sunland Baobab. There are many interesting facts about the most awesome tree in the world. This is why the Sunland is my favorite.

These trees can live to be 6,000 years old and are found in South Africa. That means that there is 6,000 rings and counting on the oldest baobab trunk. The biggest tree can grow to be 155 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. If you ever get the chance to see one you might see brown oval shaped fruit. Inside the fruit are little seeds that you can eat.

According to listverse.com people make things in the hollowed out trunk. For example hang outs, restaurants and other types of rooms. Most all my information came from listverse.com.

Also, some more cool facts about the Sunland it takes 40 adults to wrap around the biggest baobab trunk. People even make farms to harvest the fruit with the trees. That’s how useful the trees are. I have never climbed a Sunland but I bet it would be awesome.

So I think you can see why the Sunland Baobab is my favorite tree. These trees have many interesting features and I hope that they continue to stay grow for a around for a long time. Maybe someday I’ll see one for real.