One of the cool things about being in the third grade at Ada Elementary School is the annual Arbor Day celebration.
Each spring, the volunteers on the Ada Tree Commission visit the third graders to talk about trees. The commissioners share stories about trees, wildlife and how to plant the bare root tree each student receives from the Tree Commission.
MORE PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF STORY BY MONTY SIEKERMAN
Tree Commissioners also talk to the students about it means to be a Tree City USA, as Ada has been named for 34 years, and what it means for Ohio Northern University to be a Tree Campus USA, as ONU has been named for six years.
The students also get to take an active role in the celebrating. Prior to the event, current Mayor David Retterer asks the students to draw tree-themed pictures. This year, he has asked the students to illustrate things that trees do for us.
The mayor then collects the drawings and selects the three that most catch his eye. The artists of those pictures are recognized at the celebration, and each received a tree related book that has been selected by the mayor.
The Ada Tree Commission looks forward to talking with the students about trees and Arbor Day each year. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, an estimated one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day in 1872. Locally, the holiday is celebrated with a proclamation of the mayor, which this year declares Friday, April 24, as Arbor Day in the Village of Ada.
In his proclamation, which is first shared with the third graders, Mayor Retterer stresses the importance of trees in our community. He has written “trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water….produce life-giving oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife, and….trees, wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal.”
Civic organization involvement was also a major component in the early days of Arbor Day celebrations, and the Ada Kiwanis Club continues that tradition each year.
Representatives from the Kiwanis often make an appearance at the celebration, and the club continues to support the objectives of the Ada Tree Commission. This year, the celebration with the Ada third graders was April 24.
Cutline for photos:
Angela Polachek, village administrative assistant, and a member of the tree commission, gives a red maple to her daughter, Kathryn Polachek-Sneider.
John Berg, (left), president of the Ada Kiwanis Club, presents a $500 check to Don Traxler, chairman of the tree commission. The civic club has donated $500 to the village annually for 35 years to benefit the trees in the community. The check presentation took place Friday during a National Arbor Day observance at Ada Schools.
Members of the Ada tree commission show the flag of Ada Tree City on National Arbor Day on Friday at Ada Schools. Members handed out red maple saplings to 60 third graders, as they do every year. Ada has been recognized as a tree city for 34 years and will be honored again for its efforts in 2014 during a conference in Toledo next week. Pictured are (from left) Jim Neiswander, Angela Polachek, Norm Rex, Mike Hubbell, Don Traxler, David Retterer, Dick Lawrence, and Monty Siekerman.
David Retterer honors third graders at Ada schools on National Arbor Day by giving a book about trees to the top three students' artwork pertaining to trees. From left are Abid Kahn, first; Karmen Hall, second; Madison French, third. Retterer is village mayor and an active participant on the tree commission.
