News
Arbor Day celebrated at IPG
Scott Wagar
05/08/2012
The International Peace Garden, in association with the North Dakota Forest Service, hosted the 2012 North Dakota State Arbor Day Celebration on Saturday where the Girls Scouts of America, and the Girl Guides of Canada, planted a grove of trees in honor of the Girl Scouts’ 100th Anniversary as an organization and for Arbor Day.
The event kicked-off Saturday morning at the Peace Garden’s newest building, the Interpretive Center and Conservatory, where Tom Claeys forestry and fire team leader for the North Dakota Forest Service, welcomed a large crowd of people to the event, which included over 200 Girl Scouts and Guides.
The Girl Scouts participated in this year’s Arbor Day because the organization took part in the dedication of the International Peace Garden in 1932. With that in mind, the International Peace Garden, the North Dakota Forest Service and the Girl Scouts felt it fitting to participate in the Arbor Day festivity.
In the ceremony, Bottineau Girl Scout Troop #10210 posted the U.S. colors, while the Stonybrook Rangers of Lorette, MB, presented the Canadian and Manitoba flags.
The Stonybrook Rangers of the Girl Guides sang the Canadian national anthem, while Zdena Sinkhorn of the Minot Air Force Base Girl Scout Troop #10312 sang the American national anthem.
Doug Hevenor, chief executive officer of the International Peace Garden, gave the Peace Garden’s welcome and made remarks about the Garden and its importance to Arbor Day.
Sue Winter, program and learning specialist for the Dakota Horizon Girl Scouts, made the salutation for the Girl Scouts and spoke on the Scouts’ centennial year and the significance of the girls’ youth organization in planting trees to assist the environment.
Larry Kotchman, state forester of the North Dakota Forest Service, gave the keynote address where he expressed the importance of Arbor Day.
“Arbor Day clearly represents a strong community commitment to care for our natural resources and improve our environment,” Kotchman said. “Planting a tree or a shrub is something we all can do to make our communities a better place to live, whether we live in the United States or in Canada.”
After the indoor ceremony, the Girl Scouts and Guides moved over to the OES Overlook Picnic Area where they planted a grove of trees consisting of Siberian larch, Black Hills spruce, Colorado spruce and Meyer spruce near Lake Udall. The International Peace Garden provided the seeds for the grove.
The grove of trees will be called the “Girl Scout Grove,” which is in honor of the Girl Scouts’ 100th Anniversary and Arbor Day 2012.
Along with sowing the grove, the Towner State Nursery gave the young women the opportunity to choose a Siberian larch or Juneberry tree, which they could plant within the grove or to take home to plant.
The NDFS’s Arbor Day was a true success, it celebrated tress, the Girl Scout’s centennial and brought two countries together in planting trees, which brought Kotchman’s words alive in making our communities a better place to live.