POULSBO — An estimated 1 million trees were planted on the first Arbor Day in 1872.
Though not quite as many were planted in Little Norway Saturday, it took only a matter of hours for volunteers to transform a construction site into a park.
Poulsbo Parks and Recreation and the Poulsbo Tree Board hosted a Trees of Nelson Park planting event April 17 to celebrate both Arbor Day and Earth Day. More than 50 volunteers showed up to mark the day — from Poulsbo City Council members and Poulsbo Noon Lions to Brownies and members of Poulsbo First — shovels were flying and dozens of trees took root at their new home. Poulsbo Parks and Recreation Director Mary McCluskey was all smiles seeing the crowd Saturday.
“Amazing. Wonderful,” McCluskey said of her first reaction to the attendance. “I’m so glad someone from (the State Department of Natural Resources) could be here to see this.”
Saturday’s planting was paid for by a $10,000 matching Community Forestry Assistance Grant Poulsbo received from DNR last summer. #The federal pass-through money purchased about 40 trees, including flowering crabapples, Douglas firs, hornbeams and cedars to be planted in the portion of Nelson Park near the caretaker’s residence.
That 3.5-acre area of the total 11-acres is being developed through a $320,000 matching grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Work adding a driveway, parking, picnic shelter, restrooms and children’s play area and one-way exit onto Viking Avenue is expected to be completed by June 1.
A few of the trees purchased through the DNR grant will be planted at a later date once the driveway paving has taken place at the park.
The Trees of Nelson Park event was also a chance for Poulsbo to honor former Poulsbo City Councilwoman Jackie Aitchison’s 12 years on council. The Poulsbo resident, who left the council table in December 2003, was recognized with the planting of a ginko tree and a grove of cedar trees. Poulsbo resident Elizabeth Hutley said she’d asked Aitchison what her favorite tree was and Aitchison had responded the ginko because it’s been around so long. Hutley commented that she and many others who appreciated Aitchison’s environmental concern as a council member thought the new park was a great place to honor Aitchison’s work.
Aitchison said she was grateful for the tribute and blown away by the tree board’s event.
“I believe this is the most ambitious Arbor Day project the tree board has ever taken on and the best turn-out I’ve ever seen,” she commented.
Besides being a chance to partake in an environmentally-friendly project, Saturday’s attendees also got a little education with their volunteer work. City Arborist Kevin McFarland and members of Poulsbo’s Tree Board gave pointers on how to properly plant and maintain trees before setting planting groups loose. McFarland said he, too, said he was impressed with the attendance, especially the large number of children.
“So many people have a fond memory of an Arbor Day, whether it was going to a planting or getting a seedling to take home, or whatever,” McFarland said. “It sounds corny, but a lot of these kids will remember this day for the rest of their lives. That’s how you teach stewardship.”
Poulsbo resident Richard Tizzano agreed with that sentiment. Having heard about the event at Rotary the morning before, Tizzano thought it would be a great experience for his daughters Carly, 5, and Hope, 17 months.
“I told Carly that when she’s older, she can come back to this park and say, ‘I planted that tree with my dad,’” Tizzano commented. “It’s a beautiful park and I think it’s just a wonderful memory to plant a tree here. We’re planting memories.”
