Local children honor Arbor Day by helping the city forester plant a tree

Apr. 29—WORTHINGTON — Cold weather and wind couldn't stop a dedicated group of tiny tree-lovers from turning up to celebrate Arbor Day Friday in Worthington's Centennial Park, accompanied by Mayor Mike Kuhle and a few others.

The 10 second-graders from Danielle Goo's class at Worthington Christian School first gathered to listen to Kuhle's official proclamation of Arbor Day in Worthington, in which he extolled the many virtues of trees and encouraged all citizens to celebrate the holiday.

Then Scott Rosenberg, city forester and park supervisor, took over, asking if any of the children had ever planted a tree before. Excited hands shot up.

"Maybe I should have you guys do the program instead of me!" Rosenberg said with a smile.

He showed the kids a large hole already dug into the ground, and explained that it's important to plant a tree at the proper depth. As the hole was a bit too deep, the second-graders grabbed rakes and shovels to push a bit of the black soil back in, a process repeated both before and after Rosenberg used his foot to compress the soil a bit.

Several students followed his example, pushing the dirt down with their feet, and after the tree got a good watering, Rosenberg asked the young people if they recalled what the mayor had said about trees.

Again, hands flew toward the sky, and the kids took turns to say that trees make oxygen and provide habitat for animals, grow food and can be used to make paper or build houses after being cut down.

After the Minnesota strain red bud tree was planted, Rosenberg said he'd hoped the students had learned from him how to plant a tree, as many places give out trees for Arbor Day.

This spring, he said, 165 trees have been planted in city boulevards and parks, and noted that the city is working on replacing its ash trees to try to get ahead of the invasive emerald ash borer.