April 17, 1997
“TREEmendous Forest Story” is theme for Arbor Day
Flood waters will rise and fire will befriend the forest when thousands of elementary-school youngsters descend on the University of Washington April 24, 25 and 26.
The UW College of Forest Resources and members of its alumni association are sponsoring an Arbor Day Fair with a dozen activities for kids including:
— A table-top model where youngsters can create stream channels and floods by tilting the platform to simulate fast-moving water and by building dams,
— Faculty members describing when fires are harmful and when they’re actually a friend to a forest,
— Live specimens of some of the Pacific Northwest’s more unusual salamanders, toads and frogs,
— Talks to help youngsters understand how trees grow and how forest clean the air and water,
— Stops for children to make paper, get crafty with products from the forest and grind garbage into soil.
More than 800 students, kindergarten through fifth grade, will attend the Arbor Day Fair April 24, and another 800 will be at the fair April 25.
“We’re full up. Our volunteers couldn’t accommodate another class although we had many more requests,” says Beverly Gonyea, manager of continuing education at the College of Forest Resources. Some 650 Scout group members are expected April 26.
Every child will head home with a tree seedling and instructions on planting. On the opening day at 12:45 p.m., UW President Richard McCormick and Forest Resources Dean David Thorud will plant a tree to commemorate the event.
Schools from as far north as Monroe and south as Puyallup will attend this year. Key volunteers from the College of Forest Resources Alumni Association also hail from various Puget Sound communities, they include: Gary Shirley of Seattle, president; Colleen Ponto, Kenmore, activities for children; Lloyd Hammerstad, Auburn, coordinator of volunteers helping at the fair; and Tom Friberg of Seattle, Bob Witter of Tacoma, and Ken Chisholm of Kent, fundraising.
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