City hopes for return of Tree City USA program

    For a second year in a row, fourth graders at Chase County Schools have missed out on Tree City USA/Arbor Day programs.
    Thanks to the lingering fears surrounding COVID-19, the only event on the state level this spring is a virtual ceremony May 14. Last year, due to the early stages of COVID-19, the state’s in-person ceremony was cancelled.
    In 2021, that means no trip for a second year to Lincoln for three fourth grade essay winners to accept the city’s Tree City USA award.
    Imperial city officials are promoters of the Tree City USA program. After all, Imperial has earned the Tree City USA designation for 34 years.
    City Administrator Jo Leyland said they’re hopeful the state will bring back the in-person program in 2022. It’s organized on the state level by the Arbor Day Foundation which partners with the Nebraska Forest Service.
    In Imperial, fourth grade students are invited to submit essays on a tree-related theme. Judges select three winners, who get to travel to Lincoln, attend the Tree City USA ceremony and then give a presentation to the city council and mayor on their experiences.
    Leyland said the essay program got underway last year, but school was cancelled due to COVID before the essay deadline. While some essays were completed, she didn’t think it was fair to select winners last year.
    There was no state program to attend anyway.
    In a normal year, Mayor Dwight Coleman accepts the newest Tree City USA flag from the fourth graders when they attend the council meeting and read their essays.
    Coleman said the Tree City USA presentation by the fourth graders is something he always looks forward to.
    “It’s one of the highlights of being mayor. I really enjoy it,” he said.
    While he just found out there was no in-person state ceremony again, he understands.
    “We have to remember, it’s usually older folks from communities who attend the program in Lincoln,” he said, resulting in more COVID concerns.
    “I think Imperial is the only city that sends its youths to Lincoln” to accept the award, he added.
Trees planted
    The lack of a Tree City USA program this year doesn’t mean public works officials aren’t keeping up on promoting tree growth in Imperial.
    A ceremonial tree planting was held last Friday on Arbor Day at Imperial’s Schroeder Park, attended by Rainbow Promise Preschool students.
    Twenty-one three, four and five-year-olds observed as city employee Tina Mandeville planted a Bradford flowering pear tree.
    Following the mid-morning program at Schroeder, Mandeville then planted another tree at the Max Addition Park.
    Public Works Supt. Pat Davison said city crews removed eight dead trees from the Max Park last month, south of the playground area. He said several new ones will be planted in that park.
    Arbor Day is a homegrown Nebraska holiday, which is now observed nationally.
    Its origins date back to the early 1870s in Nebraska City when a journalist named Julius Sterling Morton moved to the state with his wife, Caroline, in 1854, a little more than 10 years before Nebraska gained its statehood in 1867.
    The couple purchased 160 acres in Nebraska City and planted a wide variety of trees and shrubs in what was a primarily a flat stretch of desolate plain.
    Through Morton’s promotion, the first ever Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1872. Morton led the charge in the planting of approximately 1 million trees.
    In 1885, Arbor Day was named a legal state holiday in Nebraska. It wasn’t until 1970, however, that Arbor Day was  recognized nationwide due to the efforts of U.S. President Richard Nixon.