Philomath third graders and Kings Valley kindergarteners expanded their knowledge of trees Friday morning during the city’s annual Arbor Day celebration.
Staged at the Public Works yard, the kids rotated through various areas that had been set up for them that included up-close looks at equipment, a tabletop stormwater demonstration and planting a small tree into a container that they could take home.
Gallery: Philomath Arbor Day Celebration (April 26, 2024)
A collection of photos from the city’s Arbor Day celebration for Philomath third graders and Kings Valley kindergartners on Friday.
Actually, Public Works Operations Supervisor Garry Black announced to the kids during a quick introductory talk that they could take home two trees.
The city purchased trees to give away back in February at a discount from the Arbor Day Foundation. Black admitted he was starting to get nervous about their delivery, which occurred just last week. But in addition, Pacific Power’s participation this year also included trees to give away.
“We have 200 trees and they brought 250 seedlings — we have plenty of trees to give out,” Black said.
Four varieties of trees were given away — white dogwood, tulip, gray dogwood and Eastern redbud.
“I think it’s great for the kids — it gets them outside and helps them learn about trees and learn about the community members,” said third grade teacher William Bean, who is in his first year at Philomath Elementary. “I think the best part is bringing trees home and planting them and watching them grow.”
The Arbor Day event complements the classroom work for students.
“We try to relate all of our field trips to what we’re doing inside the classroom, whether it’s science lessons or language arts,” Bean said. “We have a field trip coming up to Gathering Together Farm and it relates to one of our language arts lessons for farm-to-table.”
Black appreciates that locals have an appreciation for trees.
“As a logging community, it’s great to see that the community is still involved in the well-being of trees,” he said, adding that they “make our city more livable by having a variety of trees.”
The city of Philomath reached a milestone here in 2024 for earning the Tree City USA designation for a 30th straight year.
The Arbor Day celebration featured several partners that the city brought in — Benton County and Pacific Power had displays and Wright Tree Service brought a tree-trimming bucket truck. Public Works also had heavy equipment on display.
