Celebrate Arbor Day on Saturday at Landings Park

Coeur d'Alene will have a community-wide Arbor Day Celebration at The Landings Park on Saturday. It will start with a pancake breakfast at the East Gazebo at 9 a.m. A ceremony and tree planting will be held at 9:45 a.m. There will also be a display of Arbor Day button and poster art, door prizes, tree care information, and free tree seedlings.

At the event, Coeur d'Alene will be presented with a Tree City USA award, as well as a Tree City "Growth" award. This will be the 26th consecutive year of Tree City USA recognition for the city.

To qualify for the honor, a community must meet four criteria:having (1) a tree board or department; (2) a community tree care ordinance; (3) a comprehensive community forestry program; and (4) an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

Other Arbor Day events will be celebrated throughout the week. Every fourth-grade student in the Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, and Lakeland school districts will be receiving tree seedlings. The seedlings were purchased with donations from the local timber industry and tree care companies. They will be individually packaged and tagged by Arbor Day volunteers today.

Along with the seedlings, the fourth-grade students will receive an Arbor Day button. The designer of this year's button is Jacob Ohnemus, a sophomore at Coeur d'Alene High School, winner of the Arbor Day Button Art Contest.

The Coeur d'Alene Public Library and the city's Parks Department will partner for Arbor Day activities on Wednesday during library story times. "Trees are Great!" will be presented for the preschool story times for ages 3-5 at 10:30-11 a.m., and again at 1-1:30 p.m.

A school-aged program, "Trees: Nature's Best Invention!" will be presented during a 4-5 p.m. program. Both programs will be in the Shirley Parker Storyroom in the Seagraves Children's Library. Free tree seedlings will be available for children to take home to plant.

Friday is Idaho's official Arbor Day. Master Gardeners will celebrate by giving out free tree seedlings at the Coeur d'Alene, Hayden, Rathdrum, Post Falls, Spirit Lake, and Athol libraries. For more information, please contact Karen Haskew, Urban Forester, at 769-2266.