Students learn about trees at delayed Arbor Day event

More than 300 second-graders from around the area attended Havre's week-late Arbor Day event Monday at Simon Pepin Memorial Park, to learn about planting trees and take home their own tree to plant at home.

"The whole idea is helping our community," former Havre Parks and Recreations Director and Task Force for Urban Reforestation member Dave Wilson said. "... The whole thing is that trees make our environment more pleasant and much more enjoyable to live in. They provide so many things that it's hard to give all those things to the kids."

He added that it is a good program, nothing fancy, and makes an effort to teach children about conservation work and the environment. Wilson said that he wants every student who attended to get something that will stick with them as they grow up and get more involved with the community.

The celebration is organized each year by Task Force for Urban Reforestation - TURF - and funded with a Tree City USA grant from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

This year, second-graders from Lincoln-McKinley Primary School, Davey Elementary School and St. Jude Thaddeus School in Havre and Rocky Boy Elementary School gathered at the park for the Arbor Day event.

Rocky Boy Elementary chaperone Arnold Sisneros Jr., who brought his second-grade son, Jamieson Sisneros, 8, said 46 students from Rocky Boy Elementary came to plant trees.

Jamieson Sisneros said that he was having a fun time at the event and liked the activities.

Arnold Sisneros said that the event was originally planned for last week but, because of the weather conditions, had to be moved to Monday. He added that the event was a good way to keep children active and out of trouble. It also is a good way to get children submerged in the community.

He added that it was a good way to teach children early to get out and take care of the things around them.

Havre Mayor Tim Solomon said that he was enjoying the event and was glad to see so many children getting involved. He added that he has done this event for a number of years and was happy to show the children why it is important to plant trees.

Solomon was shoveling dirt into plastic containers, which would be used as temporary containers for the seedlings to start growing.

Wilson said that the Arbor Day celebration had first started in 1994, shortly after he took the position as the Parks and Recreation director for the city of Havre.

He said that he had heard about a similar program spearheaded by Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods employee Randy Graves, who is now a TURF member. Graves was dispersing 200 seedlings to the local Boy Scouts of America and Hill County 4-H.

Graves said that the original program was through a partnership with the Independent Grocer Association and Louisiana Pacific. In 1994, Graves got in contact with Wilson and together they were able to get The Coca-Cola Company and Havre to expand the program to working with local students.

TURF member Scott Sheppard said the Tree City USA program awards grants from the National Arbor Day Foundation and U.S. Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to purchase the seedlings. TURF receives a number of donations from local businesses for the soil and the plastic containers.

Sheppard added that, this year, they also had approximately a dozen volunteers at the event, including members of the Bullhook Blossoms Garden Club.

"I think that trees obviously provide a lot to the community, and it's important to educate the kids at an early age," he said.

Wilson said that after the students receive their seedlings and pots they are encouraged to take them home and plant them in their own yards.

"We thought it was a great way of getting trees into the environment," he said. "We were able to pick varieties that would grow here according to the hardiness zone and put some variation in our urban forest."

He added that, normally, TURF would have a presentation in the park for students about Tree City and tips on how to grow their trees on Arbor Day, but because of the weather, TURF members went to the schools for the presentations this year.

He said that the Havre area mostly has green ash trees and elm trees. TURF is trying to bring in different varieties to Havre's urban forest. After the winter storm last year many trees were damaged or had to be cut down, Wilson said, adding that this is a good way to start replacing the trees that were lost.

After the students take their trees home, he said, TURF does a follow-up survey after summer break to check on how the students' trees are doing. Wilson added that they get a spectrum of responses.

Graves said that trees are difficult to plant: people have to treat them like a baby, trying not to over-water the seedlings. He added that most tree seedlings don't end up surviving, with approximately 50 percent loss.

Wilson said that he wants every student to walk away with a new understanding of trees and a new appreciation for the area.

"It's the kind of thing that is important that the trees have for where we live and how we enjoy where we live."

In addition to trees providing oxygen, they are also aesthetically pleasing, he said, adding that this region of Montana would be a lot harsher to live in without trees.

Graves said everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves Monday and he was happy that he was involved.

"Today was great," he said. "It was beautiful out, the kids planted, everyone had a good time. It was a lot of fun. It always is."