Ash Grove celebrates, gathers at park for Earth Day

City officials successfully showcase park potential at annual tree planting event
 
The city of Ash Grove held an Earth Day celebration at the city park on Thursday, April 22. Forty-three
people attended the gathering.
The special day was held, in part, to mark the completion of the city’s T.R.I.M. grant. The city was
awarded $9,253.86 from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) last September to remove and
replace 15 trees in the park which were accidentally poisoned; the city contributed another $3,084.62, for
a total $12,338.48 towards the project. The trees were planted in the city park under the supervision of
Jon Skinner, a community forester with the MDC.
“All the trees are in the ground (and) planted,” said Jennifer Martin. “We’re really proud of that.”
During the Earth Day affair, Martin spoke to attendees about Ash Grove’s status as a part of the Tree
City USA community, which the city has held for over 14 years. In her comments, she thanked Marcia
Harper, who helped submit the paperwork for the T.R.I.M. Grant, and also told those gathered that
events such as the Earth Day celebration count towards volunteer hours for Tree City USA, and also
served as a way to educate community members and gave them a way to give back.
Ash Grove City Clerk Melissa Mau spoke about the city’s recycling center during the event, located at
704 Industrial Drive, where residents can recycle cardboard, paper, plastic, metal and glass. She also
reminded attendees to use the recycling bin to dispose of water bottles during the event and also spoke
about the new park picnic tables, which are made from recycled materials.
Mayor Les Gardner encouraged those in attendance to get involved in the efforts to clean up and
beautify the city; he also announced a number of upcoming events, including the Citywide Garage Sale
on Saturday, May 1; the National Day of Prayer, to be held at noon on Thursday, May 6; the Citywide
Clean Up on Saturday, June 5 and the Sparks in the Park Celebration on Saturday, June 26 and
Sunday, June 27. Gardner added that the city would hold its sesquicentennial (150th anniversary)
celebration during Sparks in the Park.
Other speakers included Adrienne Poulson, branch manager of Ash Grove Library, who talked about the
resources available at the library, as well as the story walk and the upcoming Summer Reading Program,
and Ronessa Williams, who spoke about the city’s GRO program.
Earth Day Art
During the celebration, the city also unveiled a poster made in celebration of Earth Day by Ash Grove
High School student Emma Dotson. Dotson’s poster depicts a tree planted on top of Planet Earth, which
is supported by a pair of human hands, all of which is contained inside of a raindrop. The poster itself
reads, “Restore our Earth.”
“The hands represent us supporting the Earth, because we’re the ones doing all this,” Dotson, 16, said.
“And the trees (represent) us planting the trees on the Earth.”
Dotson said she chose to include a tree in her poster because Earth Day they are essential to
maintaining life on the planet.
“This whole event is about planting trees to restore the Earth, because we need trees to survive,” she
said.
Park presentation
Mau said she felt the event had been a success, not only because of the number of people who
attended, but also because it gave them a chance to see what the city park has available for recreation,
including the skate park and newly installed exercise equipment.
“It gets people in our park, and anytime we can get people down here and see what we have to offer, it’s
always a success,” she said. “Today, we had a very good turnout, which is better than what we’ve had in
the past.”
State Representative Bishop Davidson, also in attendance, said he felt it helped to promote several
positive virtues in the community.
“I think it’s very important, because at the end of the day, it’s about stewardship,” he said. “Stewardship
is about responsibility, and we can never promote responsibility enough, and this is one of the best ways
to do it.”
While part of the focus of the Earth Day celebration was the planting of the trees in the park, attendees
also had the opportunity to plant trees elsewhere. Twenty-five redbud trees, provided by Liberty Electric,
were given away at the end of the event, as were several plant packets provided by Pennington’s and
seed packets provided by Ash Grove MFA.