City to plant trees to celebrate Arbor Day

The beauty and grace of trees may be the focus of Arbor Day, but the efforts of people to help trees grow and thrive will be recognized too.

Jean Bondiett and the Nevada State Prison will be honored Friday afternoon to celebrate Arbor Day. The ceremony will be 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Carson City Library, 900 N. Roop St.

Bondiett has served for six years on the Carson City Shade Tree Council, serving as its chairwoman for five years. She served on the council for three, two-year terms.

She now involves herself with other groups, such as Muscle Powered and Soroptimists International, but found her time on the council enjoyable and rewarding.

"I felt it was a worthy cause," Bondiett said. "I think it's important to volunteer."

The Nevada State Prison will be recognized with a George Washington Ferris Award for allowing cottonwood trees within its walls to grow for more than 100 years.

Ferris, for whom the award was named, was responsible for planting trees on the Capitol grounds in about 1876.

The tree planting will be the highlight of the event and is scheduled at 6 p.m.

A national holiday that encourages planting and caring for trees, the idea for Arbor Day came from a journalist, J. Sterling Morton in 1872. Originally from Michigan, he wanted to see more trees around the plains of the Nebraska Territory because of their benefits as windbreaks, providers of shade, to keep soil in place and for their value as fuel and building materials.

He used his newspaper and, later, his position as Nebraska's territorial secretary, to carry out his message, according to the National Arbor Day Foundation.

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.

If you go

What: Arbor Day Celebration and tree planting

When: 5:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Carson City Library, 900 N. Roop St.