Arbour Day – Don’t just hug a tree, plant one!

: One of the rows of trees that had been planted on Arbor Day. This photograph was taken infront of Art Fraser Memorial Park. The spray park and volleyball court will smell lovely once these lilac trees bloom.

: The Boomer family stands proudly with their newly planted tree. Left to right is Jim, Landon, Hunter, Summer, Annette, and Brooklyn.

: Ashley Pardy, Jordan Beeson, Sophie Hayner, and Kate Hayner take a break from planting to pose for a picture.

: The NEAT team stands in front of their bountiful collection of trees to give away to the volunteers who assisted with the planting of trees on Arbor Day. Pictured left to right are: Harrison Ring, Meghan Rae, Lorn Kennedy, Liz Biggar, Ashley Kennedy, and Angela White.

By Anne Margaret MacDonald
“Don’t just hug a tree, plant one!” says NEAT’s Eco-Advisor Liz Biggar. The slogan is a perfect encapsulation of the vision behind NEAT’s third annual Arbour Day that took place June 1st. Arbour Day is about human reciprocity to nature, where you can give back what you take. The participants planted a tree somewhere in the designated areas of the community and were able to take home a free tree.
The idea for Arbour Day came from Biggar, who had seen a similar project occur in other communities. She was also inspired by an old Greek Proverb that says, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
“I think it is an amazing way for the community to get in touch with nature and have more ownership on our community,” says Biggar.
The Town of Fort Nelson worked in partnership with NEAT to dig all the holes to ease the tree planting process and make it more user friendly. The trees were placed in the holes around Art Fraser Park, the community trail and also the Millennium Park. The Arbour Day volunteers had to place the lilac, flowering crab, or sherbet cherry trees in the holes, cover it with dirt, and stake the tree into the ground. Once they removed a tag from the tree indicating the location of the tree and returned the bucket the tree came in they could receive a free tree to take home for every tree they planted. Encana sponsored the project again this year, donating all the trees that were both planted and given out.
In total there were 120 trees planted, and many volunteers enjoyed the sunshine and community bonding the day provided.