Area Holmes County Scouts team up to promote Earth Day
This year’s Earth Day project will see Holmes County Scouts teaming up with Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District and the Holmes County Park District to plant 100 trees at Legacy Point Park.
Two-thousand-six-hundred-fifty-nine.
That’s how many trees have been planted in Holmes County by local Scouts over the past six years, and on April 22 there are going to be plenty of new additions to that number when local Scouts dig in once again to honor Earth Day.
This year’s Earth Day project will see the Scouts teaming up with Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District and the Holmes County Park District in an effort that will beautify one of the county’s newest attractions.
“We have a great partnership with Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District and Holmes Park District,” said Brodie DeHass, president of the all-volunteer Scouters of Holmes County group.
The SHC group organizes county-wide projects for all local Scout units. DeHass continued to talk about the value of Scouting in conjunction with promoting positive impact on the ecological landscape.
“The Scout slogan is ‘Do a Good Turn Daily.’ Therefore we are always looking for opportunities to help where help is needed. This year we are excited to be out at Legacy Point Park planting around their new parking lot,” DeHass said.
The Scouts have already been instrumental in clearing brush, tearing out invasive species and reworking the landscape in and around the new park, having helped create walking paths, horse riding paths and more around Legacy Point Park, which has been transformed from what was once an ugly county landfill into a new park.
Scouts have planted trees at several locations over the years including the former Holmes County Fairgrounds, the Holmes County Home, the Timothy Baker Amphitheater in Millersburg, Airport Park and several local wetlands along Holmes County Rails to Trails. As a Scout, each is required to do a number of hours of community service, and DeHass said this project certainly qualifies.
Their effort hasn’t escaped the eyes of the park district board, which praised the Scouts for their ongoing effort to beautify the new park, which will soon be open to the public.
“Having Scouts plant several hundred trees really gives us a jump-start to take this bare parking lot border and start a succession forest that will last forever,” said Jen Halverson, director of the Holmes County Park District. “They have been an instrumental part of the ongoing effort to make this park happen.
“We’ve had a faithful amount of participation from our area Scouts, and we know they will be great stewards of the land there. If we can teach the next generation how to best care for and respect this property, they are going to help us successfully spread the word about the important role this park plays in our community.”
According to Trevor Berger, district administer at Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District, reintroducing native foliage and trees to the area will only help rejuvenate the areas being worked on, like the new park.
“The plan is not only a successional forest with small shrubs on the edge leading to the hardwood trees,” Berger said. “It’s also to plant native, desirable plants that attract wildlife and nature seekers and displace the influx of invasive species there now.”
This year’s event will take place April 22 at 6 p.m. at Legacy Point Park, 6601 Township Road 326, Millersburg.
While the focus will be on planting trees at the park, the effort will extend beyond there and spread to each Scout’s home, with each youth receiving a free tree to take home and plant.
If your child is interested in Scouts or you or your groups are interested in assisting at Legacy Point Park, call Melissa Biltz at 330-231-6175.