Volunteers are needed to help plant approximately 30 new trees in a tornado-ravaged neighborhood in Parkersburg. The planting event will take place on Saturday, October 24, starting at 9:00 a.m. Trees Forever is helping to organize this fall tree planting event as part of its ongoing Recover, Replant & Restore program.
Trees Forever has been working with Parkersburg residents since shortly after a May 2008 tornado devastated the small Iowa community. Trees Forever Program Manager Meredith Borchardt helped Parkersburg residents organize a local tree board that has been very active since last year’s disaster. In addition to coordinating several tree distribution and planting events, the tree board also helped update and revise the town’s tree ordinance. Saturday’s planting event will showcase some of the street tree species recommended in the new tree ordinance.
Volunteers wishing to assist with the tree plantings can gather at the intersection of Conn Street and Dorothy Avenue, one block south of City Hall. Volunteers should dress for outdoor work and the weather, bring work gloves, and wear heavy shoes or work boots. Open-toed shoes are not recommended. You may also bring your own shovels, rakes and wheelbarrow.
Approximately 30 trees will be planted in a residential area of Parkersburg that was in the direct path of the May 2008 tornado. In addition, a number of trees, both evergreen and deciduous, will also be available to Parkersburg residents for planting at their homes. There is no charge for these donated trees, and they will be available on a first-come basis only.
Over 150 landscape-sized trees are being donated by Fleming Landscape & Irrigation in Cedar Rapids. Fleming donated a similar number of trees to the Parkersburg recovery effort earlier this year. The trees are being transported to Parkersburg by Cedar Rapids-based trucking firm CRST International. Trees Forever is coordinating this effort. The Pella Corporation also donated 20,000 tulips and other spring bulbs to Parkersburg for planting this fall.
Trees Forever has been working in Parkersburg as part of its larger Recover, Replant, & Restore program. The program was established by Trees Forever in 2008 to providing technical assistance, planning support, and grant funding for communities re-greening and recovering from last year’s natural disasters. This year alone, Trees Forever has provided funding or assistance to over two dozen disaster-affected communities. The Recover, Replant & Restore program received major funding from Van Meter Industrial and numerous other organizations.
Parkersburg is also benefiting from another Trees Forever program this year - the Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning program. The Community Visioning program provides conceptual planning and design assistance to help improve and enhance transportation corridors in smaller Iowa communities. The program is a partnership between Trees Forever, the Iowa D.O.T., and Iowa State University Landscape Architecture Extension. The focus of the program work in Parkersburg has been developing landscape design concepts to enhance the Highway 57/14 corridor that was severely impacted by the tornado.
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