Area Scouts unite to plant a sugar maple grove in Millersburg

Area Scouts unite to plant a sugar maple grove in Millersburg
Dave Mast

Hayden Conkle, left, and Clay Lehman are hard at work planting one of the more than 100 sugar maple trees that area Scouts put into the soil at the old Holmes County Fairground.

                        

Scouters of Holmes County Inc. is barely a couple weeks into their existence, and the members are already thinking in ways that extend beyond anything that has taken place before.

On Monday, April 22 at the former fairgrounds in Millersburg, the group connected area Scout troops from all over Holmes County and had a tree-planting party.

To celebrate Earth Day, Scouters of Holmes County Inc. presented the Scouts with more than 100 sugar maple trees that the Scouts planted and flagged as part of the Earth Day conservation effort.

“This event is about Earth Day and giving back to the community,” said Brooke Johnson, district executive for the Killbuck District Boy Scouts of America. “Being able to have all of the Scouts in Holmes County come together is really cool, and it is exciting to see our adult volunteers from Scouters of Holmes County giving their time to share their vision and the message of teaching our Scouts how to care for the world around us, and creating these types of hands-on opportunities for our Scouts is exciting to see.”

The former fairground has been set aside as a natural habitat to be used as greenspace under the leadership of the Holmes County Park District. The SHCI board members had been given the go-ahead to plant the trees on the acreage in Millersburg. SHCI board member Brodie DeHass said taking on the role of providing additional leadership to the Scouts and bringing them together is an exciting venture, and this tree-planting kicks off what they hope will be something special.

“We had been wanting to do something unique on this property, and the exciting thing about planting more than 125 sugar maple trees is that in 25 years someone could well have the chance to collect maple sap from them,” DeHass said. “Will that happen? We don’t know, but we have planted them and set up that possibility.”

There were so many Scouts at the tree-planting that they broke them down into three groups: one group planting trees, another partaking in a nature walk and a third doing some fun activities. Each of the three groups rotated through so they could enjoy all three phases of the evening.

DeHass said for one area Scout unit to try to undertake this project would have been a monumental task. However, under the leadership of the SHCI members, with many troops uniting, they could tackle the task much easier. In addition it gave Scouts from different areas a chance to connect, something else the SHCI is excited to see take place.

Based on the number of Scouts on hand, it seemed like an enormous success.

With a grant secured to maintain the property and the former fairground declared a greenspace, all of the existing buildings will have to be torn down as the land is returned to its natural state. That will allow living flora and fauna to grow, and the area will be allowed to prosper as greenspace.

“It can be park-like space that can be utilized by many,” DeHass said. “This tree-planting is something that we believe we will be able to do every year, whether it is here or anywhere else in the county.”

Leaders helped the Scouts plant the 18- to 30-inch maple saplings all around the northeast side of the fairgrounds.

SHCI Vice President Kevin Mullet started each of the three Scouting groups out by talking them through the process of planting, what would need to take place and where they could locate any of the available spots to plant a tree.

“The idea of this becoming a sugar grove some day is a pretty neat idea,” Mullet said of the tree-planting experience. “More importantly it is good for our Holmes County Scouts to understand the importance of Earth Day and to help celebrate our chance to do something positive four our greenspace here at the old fairground. Hopefully the Scouts will gain some more understanding of what an important role trees play in our world.”

Whether or not the tree grove will grow into what the group hopes is something only time and nature will dictate. However, for now the Scouters of Holmes County Inc. and the area Scout troops can rejoice in knowing they have given it a chance to succeed.

The purpose of Scouters of Holmes County Inc. is to support Holmes County Scouting in any way possible. The idea is not to take over the different Scout troops but to enhance their experience and help the troops anywhere they can.

“We don’t want to take any of the individuality away from any one troop, but instead we want to bring them together to celebrate Holmes County Scouting tradition,” Mullet said.

Anyone wishing to learn more about Scouters of Holmes County Inc. may do so by emailing President Scott Biltz at Scott.Biltz@troyercheese.com.


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load