Central students celebrate Arbor Day

Noreen Hyslop photo Third graders Reagan Miller, Ethan Gillum and Kaete Freeman place one of the many pine trees in the ground that were supplied by the City Tree Board on Wednesday. Students at Central Elementary have been planting pines on the school grounds each April for over twenty years.

Since his retirement in 2003, Morse has returned each year with trees in hand, ready to add to the pine grove behind the school and this year was no exception. His role now is as Dexter School Board president and as a member of Dexter's City Tree Board, but the contribution remains the same.

On Wednesday, Morse delivered over 60 pine seedlings, these days courtesy of the Tree Board, for students in the third grade to plant on the hillside and after a brief introduction to the students as to the significance of Arbor Day and some instruction on the proper method of tree-planting, the students went to work.

"Some of the trees we initially put in the ground are now 30 and 40 feet high," Morse noted. "Not all pines will thrive, so we put several in the ground and hope for the best. We've got hundreds now growing and we plan on just adding to them every year."

It's an effort that often goes unappreciated until a teacher sits to read to a classroom of 25 elementary students on a spring day, shaded by the tall pines or a birdwatcher catches a glimpse of a rare breed fleeting about the branches on the hill behind the school.

Deer have been witnessed traipsing through the needles of the pine trees and squirrels are a common sight. And it began with a simple gesture from a simple man who has a special respect for the land around him and would prefer to grant credit to anyone but himself.

For his continued efforts, a thankful student body and staff from Central Elementary School say, "Thanks."