Newport Elementary gets green for Arbor Day

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- What began as a ceremonial shovel of dirt turned into

a little gardening session Friday at Newport Elementary School.

It wasn’t just for show when students and school officials were

brought forward to help plant a 10-foot queen palm tree at the school in

celebration of Arbor Day. Each threw about a dozen shovels’ worth of dirt

into the hole at the base of the new tree.

The new flora, brought to the school by the Newport-Balboa Rotary Club

and donated by West Coast Arborists of Newport Beach, now graces the

kindergarten playground.

“I like it because it’s pretty,” said kindergartner Hannah Mumm, 5.

Arbor Day is a nationally celebrated observance that was originated in

1872 by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska as a response to a proclamation

urging settlers to plant trees on the prairie.

Originally set on the last Friday in April, the day when Americans are

encouraged to plant and care for trees is now determined by each

individual state, based on that state’s optimal planting season.

For California, that day was Wednesday. So on Wednesday, the service

organization gave third-graders an Aleppo pine seedling tree to grow.

“We gave little seedlings to more than 2,000 third-graders in

Newport-Mesa,” said Peter Smith, Arbor Day chairman for the Rotary Club.

“In the 33 years we’ve been doing this, we’ve given over 76,000” trees.

Each year, the group also plants a large tree at one of Newport-Mesa’s

schools. Last year, Pomona Elementary School was the recipient, Smith

said.

But the healthy new look of the kindergarten area doesn’t stop with

the new tree.

A Newport Elementary parent, Molly Meagan Polk, donated all kinds of

small plants and flowers, which will be planted around the tree.

“Kindergarten students have each brought in a $2 donation to put in

vegetables, which we’re still waiting on,” said Stacy Bauer, a

kindergarten teacher.