Plans announced for Project Plant-A-Tree

POSTPONEMENT: The campuswide tree-planting scheduled for April 11 has been postponed. The event will take place at 2 p.m. Friday, April 18, at the Memorial Bell Tower.

The University community will soon have the opportunity to fight back after three long months of winter and a December ice storm that downed nearly 80 trees and snapped off hundreds of limbs and branches across the Northwest campus.

Hundreds of trees were damaged by the storm, some of them as old as Northwest itself. All were part of the Missouri Arboretum, a state designation given by the Legislature to the campus tree stand, which comprises 125 varieties.

Students, faculty and staff are invited to take part in Project Plant-A-Tree at 2 p.m. Friday, April 18, at the Memorial Bell Tower. The event will be part ceremony -- held to honor employees who worked to keep the campus open and safe during and after the storm -- and part work detail, as volunteers plant new trees to replace those that were lost.

President Dean L. Hubbard will offer opening remarks. A representative of the National Arbor Day Foundation and Maryville Mayor Chad Jackson are also scheduled to speak.

Hubbard and first lady Aleta Hubbard will then plant a tree in honor of the ice storm workers. Lezlee Johnson, associate director of environmental services, will demonstrate correct planting techniques before participants move to locations where new trees are to be placed in the ground.

Bobby Bearcat will be on hand, and there will be a performance by members of the Northwest Department of Music.

Financial support for tree replacement has come from campus groups, organizations, offices and departments who responded to the president’s call to make ”this campus and this arboretum better than it ever was.” Faculty, staff, students, alumni and other friends of the University continue to support fundraising efforts in support of the arboretum through the Northwest Foundation. Anyone wishing to donate should go to www.nwmissouri.edu/alumni/tree.htm for details.

Those wishing to assist with the April 18 planting effort should call Amy Nally, coordinator of volunteer services, at 660.562.1956 (ext. 1956 on campus) or e-mail anally@nwmissouri.edu. Johnson and her crew will pre-dig holes for the new trees. Water will be provided at each site.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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