Winona State University will celebrate Arbor Day from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 29. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Why Trees Matter.”
The day will start with a welcome at the Integrated Wellness Center native prairie garden with WSU Arboretum Committee Co-Chair Jim Reynolds and WSU President Scott Olson. Interim Arboretum Director Mike Pieper and Olson will acknowledge WSU’s Arbor Foundation Tree Campus-USA designation. There will also be poetry from WSU students and James Armstrong, professor of English, the dedication of the sculpture “Honor the Earth, Protect the Soil,” as well as a free native shrub or tree give-away, while supplies last.
Bluffview Montessori elementary second and third grade students and teachers will meet with WSU poetry students and Armstrong for Arbor Day poetry and tree planting with Nancy Reynolds, Tree Care Advisor, Master Gardener and WSU Arboretum Committee Member from 9:30 to 10 a.m.
Also from 9:30 to 10 a.m., Bluffview Montessori middle school seventh and eighth grade students and teachers will meet with WSU poetry students and Armstrong for Arbor Day poetry and tree planting with WSU Groundskeeper Willem du Preez and Assistant Professor of Biology Erin Peter.
From 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Bluffview Montessori second and third grade students will participate in the “Pollinator Bubble” with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ranger Ed Lagace. The students will also participate in “Tree Cookies and Tree Dating” with Melanie Reap, Professor of Education, and WSU pre-science teacher students.
During that same time, the Bluffview seventh and eighth grade students will be engage in an activity to determine the age, value and benefits of a tree with Kim Evenson, Professor of Biology, and WSU students.
From 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. Nancy Reynolds and Erin Peters will be giving campus tree tours. Tours commence at the IWC Prairie Garden.
After a 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. lunch, the public is invited to Pasteur Hall, room 329 for a free shrub or tree giveaway and a presentation b. Angie Ambourn, Entomologist with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture on “Minnesota’s New and Emerging Invasive Species.” Displays and informational material will be also available.
The day will end at 3 p.m.
The public is invited to enjoy the Landscape Arboretum all day during the celebration.
Arbor Day events are sponsored by Winona State University’s Advancement, Finance and Administrative Services, Facilities Services and All-University Arboretum and Land Stewardship Committee, US. Fish and Wildlife Service — Winona Office, and the Hardwood Forest Foundation, Memphis, Tenn.
For more information contact the WSU Communications Office at 507-457-5024.
