COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — With a careful eye and the precision of one who regularly cares for trees, Randy Cenell snipped the tops of liquid amber seedlings before handing them off to be placed in bags.
"I like trees, I care about trees and helping out," said Cenell, who works as an arborist for the city of Post Falls. "We need more trees in our whole world, but locally too."
About 60 volunteers, including students from Coeur d'Alene and Venture high schools, gathered in an Idaho Department of Lands warehouse Tuesday morning to prepare 3,800 seedlings for distribution. The tiny trees will go to fourth- and fifth-graders across Kootenai County during the 36th annual Arbor Day of North Idaho's 2022 Arbor Day ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday in the pocket park on East Sherman Avenue and at noon during a "drive-by" giveaway event at North Idaho College.
Catherine George helped bag sweetgums. This was about her fourth time participating in the seedling sacking event, as reported by our partners, The Coeur d'Alene Press.
"I love it," she said. "I love working in fresh air, even though it's raining."
She said she hopes the children take care of the seedlings and have their parents help when they plant them.
"It's such a thrill in the spring to see these bud out," she said with a smile, studying a seedling on her table.
"They're ready to go," she said.
The program normally distributes about 2,500 trees to fourth-graders, but organizers decided to provide seedlings for fifth-graders too since they missed out because of COVID last year.
Arbor Day of North Idaho President John Schwandt was delighted with the speed and efficiency of this year's seedling sacking event as well as the use of the space at the Department of Lands.
"It went much faster than I thought it would, and I'm not sure whether the kids were just really good at it or if they learned quickly," he said with a chuckle. "The trees have smaller root systems and bagged up much quicker, that helped too."
He said it helps the older kids who participate in the bagging understand the importance of being stewards of their environment. The program also helps educate the younger kids about the value of trees.
"We're really thrilled that we can continue something that was started 36 years ago," Schwandt said. "It's fun to run into teachers, people on the street who say, 'Do you remember getting a tree?' 'Oh yeah, I got a tree.'"
CHS freshman Matthew Thayer worked on bagging zelkova trees, which are hardy and provide dense shade.
"I love serving my community," he said. "I have not done this before, but I love helping out."
The main goal of the program is to spread attractive shade and flowering trees throughout the area to enhance North Idaho's natural beauty. It takes volunteers up to four hours to dip, bag, tag and bundle trees for every fourth and fifth grade classroom in the county.
The program annually costs about $4,000 that is generously covered by the local timber and tree care industries.
More than 78,000 trees in more than 70 different species have been given to local fourth-graders since 1987.
"Even though we know a lot of trees don't make it and people move around, so they lose track, the fact that we can put a bunch of trees out in our community is really something," Schwandt said.
The Coeur d'Alene Press is a KREM 2 News partner. For more news from our partners, click here.