Pateros hosts fifth annual Arbor Day observance

Brewster High School student Melissa Corrales sets out plants from the school greenhouse on a sale table in Pateros Park.

The youngsters were particularly drawn to the craft tables.

Mayor Carlene Anders thanked volunteers, read the Arbor Day Proclamation, and introduced the day’s guest speaker.

Linden Lampman, Urban and Community Forestry Program Manager, came from Olympia to address the Arbor Day crowd.

City Administrator Jord Wilson, right, and city water department supervisor Doug Kirk prepare the root ball of a new tree for planting in the city park.

A history panel comprised of Pateros school principal Mike Hull, left, Jerry Bryant, Phil Brownlee, and Bill Meadows discussed Old Pateros and came complete with vintage photos and a 6-by-10-foot map hand sketched by Bryant.

Wilson and Bange

Sherrad and Blackburn

Pateros FFA

Jerry Bryant, left, drew a map of Old Pateros that over time grew to become a 6-by-10-foot document before he was finished. Bryant points out a feature to Alex Thomason of Thomason Law & Justice.

Posted Thursday, May 3, 2018 9:50 am

Mike Maltais

PATEROS – This designated Tree City hosted its fifth annual Arbor Day observance, Community Roots, last Friday, April 27, in Pateros Memorial Park with a wide variety of activities fitted into the two-hour afternoon schedule.
Mayor Carlene Anders welcomed visitors, thanked Tree Board members Megan Sherrard, Angela Van Ensynga, Brenda Brady and arborist/city administrator Jord Wilson for their work, read the official Arbor Day Proclamation and introduced the day’s guest speaker Linden Lampman, Urban and Community Forestry Program Manager, who made the trip from her office in Olympia to address the group.
Arbor Day had its roots in Nebraska where, in 1872, Julius Sterling Morton proposed the observance that was later reinforced by the planting of one million trees in Nebraska.
Lampman explained that the state’s Tree City designation is an Arbor Day Foundation program that her office administers and requires that city to meet four qualifications to be so recognized.
“One is to have an ordinance that talks about taking care of trees and one is to have that ordinance say who takes care of trees,” said Lampman. “Another is to spend some money on taking care of trees, planting and planning for trees and the fourth one is doing what we’re doing today, celebrating Arbor Day.”
In keeping with that pledge, Wilson had new samplings staged around park grounds and ready for planting that day.
The Brewster Boys and Girls Club provided craft and science activities for the youngsters and the Pateros FFA students had their barbecue fired up to cook hamburgers and hot dogs for diners.
Free Jacquemontil Birch and Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir saplings were supplied by the Pateros Brewster Long Term Recovery Organization, Cascade Weed and Pest Management, and several anonymous citizens. information and demonstrations on composting and the proper planting and care of trees.
A big hit of the afternoon was a History Panel comprised of long-time area residents Jerry Bryant, Phil Brownlee, Bill Meadows, and Pateros school superintendent Mike Hull. Hull led off the presentation that included descriptions of life and work in Old Pateros together with a photo display of earlier versions of the city.
A 6-by10-foot map of Old Pateros showing streets and structures that Bryant drew by hand from memory was a centerpiece of interest, questions and discussion.
Since 2013 when the first Arbor Day observance was held in Pateros the city has made many improvements to grounds, plantings and water quality including:
• A reduction in manganese content through development of new city water wells;
• Removal of invasive tree species at Ives Landing Park and along street rights of way;
• Automatic irrigation at Ives Landing;
• Removal and grinding of tree stumps;
• Pruned maples along North Street and evergreens and Honey Locusts in Memorial Park;
• Improvements to irrigation and mulching in the Mall.
New trees planted in 2018 included more than two dozen small trees, Serviceberry, Rocky Mountain Maple and Juniper at Ives Landing, 13 Ponderosa Pines and eight Pacific Red Cedars at Ives Landing, and one Ponderosa Pine at the Methow Memorial.