Trees planted at dog park for Arbor Day

Shawano gives out awards, promotes importance of trees in community
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Two trees were planted April 27 at Shawano’s Animal Recreation Facility during a ceremony in observance of Arbor Day and to honor the two award recipients deemed to be friends of nature.

“Every year, we plant a few trees to take the place of the ones that get older,” said Ross Langhurst, chairman of the city’s tree advisory committee.

Jeff and Marlene Bowan received the residential Nature’s Friend award for the beautification of their property on Wescott Street, while the commercial award went to Shawano Ambulance Service for the trees planted at its new facility on Main Street.

Langhurst said the Bowans’ property originally had 12 varieties of trees and 20 varieties of shrubs when they purchased it. They planted other varieties over the years to help keep the yard green and prevent a massive assault if disease should infect a particular species of tree.

“It takes a lot of maintenance and a lot of pruning,” Langhurst said. “They take a lot of time taking care of their trees, and it helps, because healthy trees mean better health for people. The trees and shrubs provide food and shelter for many birds and other creatures and insects.”

Regarding the ambulance service, Langhurst said the new location is where the Auto Prep business used to be, and most of the property at the time was pavement. Efforts were made to make the grounds suitable for planting again, he said.

“They planted four royal maples, three autumn blaze maples, one Colorado spruce, 10 summer wine ninebarks and 12 quickfire hydrangeas,” Langhurst said.

During the ceremony at the dog park, Mayor Bruce Milavitz read a proclamation showing Shawano’s support for Arbor Day.

“Wherever they are planted, trees are a source of joy and spiritual renewal,” Milavitz said. “Trees help build communities and beautify neighborhoods.”

Matt Hendricks, park and recreation director, said that the Animal Recreation Facility is a valued part of the city, and like other parks, it needs trees to make it a beautiful place for residents to bring their pets. He noted that the new trees planted were small, but in the decades to come, they would look like the “80-foot monsters” that residents see in Memorial Park.

“The truth is, more and more families are living with dogs, and it’s a part of their life,” Hendricks said. “It’s a pet. It’s not a working animal like some of the cattle dogs they used to have, so people want places to recreate with them.”

The city received several awards from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Tracy Salisbury, regional forester, told the crowd that Shawano is in its 28th year of being a Tree City, its 19th year of being part of the Tree Line program with Shawano Municipal Utilities, and its 10th year of receiving the Growth Award for its tree efforts.

Salisbury noted that, among the city’s work with trees, it did an inventory of all the trees on publicly owned facilities in Shawano.

“They measured them. They checked them to see if they had any insects or diseases, mapped where they were located, what species of tree they were, if there was overhead utilities, if there are sidewalks,” Salisbury said. “What’s important about a tree inventory is that it helps the city manage the trees in the community. It’s a very useful tool.”

SMU also donated $2,000 to the city public works department to plant more trees in the community, and fourth- and fifth-grade students from Olga Brener Intermediate School, St. James Lutheran School and Sacred Heart Catholic School each received red pine tree seedlings to take home and plant in their yards.


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com