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Today, Sunday, April 13, we heeled in 766 seedlings in a concerted effort by boy scouts, hospital employees, Healthy Communities members and a little help from the Steussy-Williams kids (they made cookies).
We had around 25 people there ranging in age from 7 to 60. Shelia arrived first and looked nervous as she faced all those bags of seedlings. The Dishmans and Richters came next, and Erich looked nervous as the only guy there. He was eying that heavy clay soil and looking around for another guy to help carry the burden. He needn't have worried as the boy scouts arrived like the Calvary. Besides, Louetta Dishman handled her shovel with the best of them.
Andi did a great job of coordinating the troops assigning certain folks for the digging of the trenches. Those next in line laid the seedlings in the trenches in an orderly manner. Then we had the coverers - the ones who got the dirt back in to cover the roots of the seedlings. And most important of all were the flaggers - the girls who tied bright pink ribbons on each and every seedling.
Jeff Ray's organizational skills were invaluable, too. He sorted the seedlings and organized which trees went where and how we could best use our space. When the river birches ran into the crabapples, Jeff was there to solve the problem.
Everyone had a great time and the seedlings got heeled in within a couple of hours on this beautiful afternoon. Now they can wait for the tree plantings scheduled for Memorial Park, the soccer fields and various places around the county. They are lined up and organized by type and very well flagged. Why 766 seedlings you may ask? Didn't we expect 1,000? Well, Helen and Alex planted 60 trees at Cindy Kissick's land on Saturday, and Jeff Ray and Randy Jones already planted 46 seedlings at Memorial Park. Jeff also took 50 buttonbushes for the Red-tail Conservancy to plant in wetlands areas. Jeff took 50 redbud and 50 dogwoods that he would keep in his garage until they were ready to be planted at Memorial Park by the boy scouts. And a few of our tree planters wanted a seedling or two to take home with them, and I say they deserve them.
So we have 766 seedlings waiting out there. We have wetland species - sycamore, elderberry, buttonbush and river birch. We have big trees - chestnut oak and red oak. We have one type of evergreen - the white pines. We have flowering trees that need shade - the dogwoods and redbuds, and we have a flowering tree that needs the sun - the flowering crabapple. One hundred trees are committed to the soccer fields. One hundred trees are needed for school plantings. I have talked with Mary Miller of New Lisbon about planting 100 trees in her 14 acre field that she is converting to forest. But there are still hundreds of seedlings that can be used for plantings around the county. They should all be planted before the end of May.
So if you want to host a tree planting, or just need a few seedlings to nurture at home, let me know at hsteussy@insightbb.com or 765/521-1145.
And thank the 25 people today who spent their afternoon heeling in all these seedlings for us.
As I first brought out the bags of seedlings this morning, a bright bluebird sat on a branch above our planting site and sang his cooing song. After all the work was done and Shelia and Andi were saying goodbye, he was there again guarding the little trees with their bright pink ribbons. It's a good sign...
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