City celebrates Arbor Day

RITZVILLE - To celebrate Arbor Day, 23 fifth-grade students planted five trees at the Children's Memorial Park near the city's Little League fields on Friday, April 26.

The planting was one of the featured events of the city's Arbor Day celebration.

Ritzville Tree Board and City Councilman Michael Schrag began the ceremony at City Hall and introduced other members of the board, including Brooke Hayes, Karen Cady, Debbie Chapman and Michelle Keefer.

He then shared a brief history of the commemoration. He noted "arbor" is Latin for "tree" and the holiday was the brain child of a Nebraskan named Julius Morton.

According to the Arbor Day Foundation, Morton was a journalist and editor of a Nebraska newspaper. He became secretary of the Nebraska Territory and first proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called "Arbor Day" at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture in 1872.

By some estimates, more than a million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.

Addressing the assembled grade schoolers, Schrag said, "That was 152 years ago. Some of your great-great grandfathers may have been alive back then."

Schrag then introduced Michael Sanborn, technician with state Department of Natural Resources, who presented the "Tree City USA Plaque" to the city and the Mayor Scott Yaeger.

Schrag said a city must spend at least $3,200 annually planting trees to receive the award.

Ritzville has been a Tree City USA member for 16 years, he said.

To prepare for the event, fifth-graders wrote essays answering the question: "What is your favorite tree and why?" Three award-winners stepped to the podium.

The first-place winner was Macy Schoesler who gave a speech about "The Long-Leaf Pine Tree." In her essay, she said this tree boasts the longest pine needles ever recorded -18 inches.

Gavin Repp received second-place honors. In his essay on fast-growing weeping willows, he recalled playing under such a tree in younger years.

Charley Claydon won third place with her essay on the rainbow eucalyptus, a tall tropical tree sporting a colorful skin beneath its dark brown bark.

Each finalist was awarded a gift certificate.

Yaeger read an Arbor Day proclamation and recounted his own experience planting trees as a young student.

"About 40 years ago, when I was 12 years old, we planted trees behind the high school in a drainage ditch," he said. "Those trees are pretty big today."

After the local Boy Scout troop retired the colors, the students climbed aboard a bus and headed to Children's Memorial Park.

At the park, students separated into four groups and rotated among activity stations.