By Erika Rolling

Arbor Day

Riverstone School receiving ceremonial tree for Arbor Day

May 3, 2022 | 1:07 PM

The Grande Prairie Arbor Day Society is celebrating trees on May 5 by holding a ceremonial tree plant at the Riverstone Public School.

Each year during the first full week of May, a school is chosen to receive a ceremonial tree, which is planted by Klon Greenblade Landscape Co.

Education Director for the Grande Prairie Environmental Science Education Society Amanda Frayn says the Grande Prairie Arbor Day Society started in 2002.

“Part of our obligation is to create a legacy of beauty and awareness of trees and to talk about their value and how they’re important to our community. I think that it’s really nice to instill into Grade 1 and then bring it up throughout the curriculum. In Grade 6 we host a walk through the forest which brings it up again.” Frayn says.

“The ceremonial tree goes to one school but we do provide seedlings to all Grade 1 students in our region”

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

Almost 1500 seedlings provided by Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development have been individually bagged by volunteers at West Fraser, Canfor and Weyerhauser to give to Grade 1 students all the way from Grande Cache to Valleyview to Spirit River.

Arbor Day started thanks to Julies and Caroline Morton when they moved from Michigan to Nebraska and noticed how few trees there were. They began to plant trees around their home and encouraged others to do the same.

Eight years later in 1872, Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture to set a holiday for tree planting and Arbor Day was born and spread across the United States

Canada has been celebrating Arbor Day since 1884 and Alberta commemorates during National Forest Week, with dates varying, but typically occurring during the first two weeks of May.