Join Youth As They Plant Trees For Earth Day

Reported by: Megan Graves

Volunteers armed with 1,400 trees are about to give a recently preserved conservation area along KY 8 a face-lift this Saturday. You can celebrate Earth Day, Arbor Day, and the Greater Cincinnati/Global Youth Day of Service by coming out to St. Anne Convent in Melbourne, Ky., and joining in this green endeavor.

The event will begin at 10 a.m., and participants can park at the convent. The area to be planted lies between KY 8 and the Ohio River. Thanks to Bluegrass Lawn and Landscaping, holes for the trees will have been drilled already. 

The first 100 people that register and participate in the event will receive a free T-shirt courtesy of Lafarge and a gift certificate for a free ice cream at the Silver Grove Dari Bar.

To register, call the Campbell County Extension Office at (859) 572-2600. Children and youth groups are welcome with adult supervision. Plan to get dirty, and bring a shovel if possible.

D.J. Scully, of the Campbell County Extension Office, said that the area to be planted is a 2.5-acre field with no tree coverage that was part of an old hay field.

"Rather than mow the field and emit carbon dioxide into the environment, we will plant 1,400 seedlings," he explained.

The field is part of 100 acres of land that became protected under a “conservation-easement” deed last year through the efforts of the Sisters of Divine Providence and the Campbell County Conservancy.

"The seedlings are small right now, but some of the varities such as Pen Oaks, Sycamores, and Locust trees will grow very large," Scully said. "Smaller blooming trees such as Redbuds and Dogwoods will be planted along the road to give it some color in the springtime."

Sponsors for this event are Sisters of Divine Providence/Saint Anne Convent; Bluegrass Lawn and Landscaping; Lafarge; U.K., Campbell County Extension Office; and Silver Grove Dari Bar.

For directions to Saint Anne Convent, click here. 

For more information about the multitude of service projects occurring on this Saturday for the Greater Cincinnati/Global Youth Day of Service, click here.