Mayfield Village Plants Tree for Arbor Day

It felt more like winter than spring this monring as hosted its annual Arbor Day tree planting ceremony.

Green space just north of the fire station on SOM Center Road was selected for this year's tree, a little leaf linden planted with assistance from second-graders at nearby .

Douglas Metzung, village service director, gave the students a quick lesson about Arbor Day, which was founded by J. Sterling Morton, a journalist from Detroit who moved to Nebraska.

"He discovered the importance of planting trees," Metzung said, adding that trees also represent future growth. "We're not looking back, we're looking to the future."

He said trees are one of few things that actually get more valuable over time, pointing out that a seedling costs $5 compared to the $200 price of the 12-foot tree being planted, a statement that was greeted with quite a few gasps among the youngsters.

"As a tree gets larger the value goes up," Metzung added.

Frank Stupczy, a service department employee who recently became a certified arborist, had students do a little exercise to remind them of the five things trees need – soil, water, space, sunlight and air – by stopping on the ground, extending their arms and looking up to the sky.

Students were given small flowering dogwoods to take home and plant in their yards.

Mayor Bruce Rinker said his daughter, Alexa, received a similar seedling when she was in second grade at Center. "That tree is now higher than our house," he said.