DANVILLE — Danville second-graders strengthened the village’s Tree City USA designation by planting two trees on Friday.
Students walked from the elementary school to the Kokosing Gap Trail on Richards Street to plant two swamp white oaks in recognition of Arbor Day.
Council member Jeff Furay recapped the history of Arbor Day, which falls on the last Friday of April.
“One of the reasons why we celebrate Arbor Day is because it’s another way of looking at the future,” he told the students.
“Some of these trees, they’re going to live longer than me and my kids. Some of them, in fact, these swamp oaks that we’re going to back fill the dirt on, they live like 300 to 350 years or more.
“So, when we celebrate Arbor Day, we’re not just planting trees to make the air cleaner that we breathe and a home for the birds and all that other stuff, but generations way beyond you and me are going to enjoy these trees when we’re not here.”
Students share insights about trees
As Furay spoke, students provided insights.
“Arbor is Latin for tree,” one girl said.
The Latin name for the swamp white oak is Quercus bicolor.
“It’s how they classify trees in different families,” Fury said of the Latin name. “It’s for identification purposes; it gives that kind of a tree a specific name, like you and I have a name.”
Another youngster said, “I’m a pro at planting trees because I plant trees all the time at my house.”
“The simple act of planting a tree represents a belief that the tree will grow to provide us with clean air, water, cooling, shade, a habitat for animals, healthier communities, and natural beauty for tomorrow.”
Jeff Furay, Danville village council and Tree City USA chair
Other students said that when trees get really ugly with no leaves and look dead, they should be chopped down and that the best way to tell the age of a tree is by counting the inside rings.
They also knew the oldest and tallest trees are in California and about the emerald ash borer.
“I have a lot of jars of those, what are those insects called that ate your tree? … I have a bunch of jars full of that, and we put alcohol on them,” one boy confided.
“I’ve seen a tree that’s nearly almost extinct,” one girl shared.
Lessons learned from tree planting
After the students planted the trees, they shared what they learned.
“I learned that trees need water and summer to grow,” one girl said.
Another admitted she did not learn anything but said she saw a baby bird in a nest.
“Trees are good for you, for your breathing, and good for animals living in them,” another girl said.
Furay chairs the village’s Tree City committee.
“We’ve been a Tree City USA for six years. We should receive our seventh recognition sticker from Arbor Day Foundation,” he said.
Furay did not know how many trees the village has planted with the Tree City committee being so new.
“We need to get a better inventory, but we definitely plant more trees than we remove,” he said.
Furay said Fredericktown gifted Danville an oak which the village will plant in Thomas Cottrell Memorial Park.
