{"id":246127,"date":"2013-05-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-10T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/celebrating-arbor-day\/"},"modified":"2013-05-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T07:00:00","slug":"celebrating-arbor-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/celebrating-arbor-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Arbor Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friends of Balboa Park sees 18 new trees planted in honor of lifelong park devotees<\/p>\n

Por Antonio Rey | Editor SDUN<\/p>\n

Arborists, city employees, city and state leaders and students from South Park\u2019s Albert Einstein Academy joined the Friends of Balboa Park early morning April 26 to celebrate Arbor Day by planting new trees in Balboa Park. Over 150 community members gathered near the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Quince Street for the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"(center,<\/a>
(center, l to r) Council President Todd Gloria and Friends of Balboa Park Chair Jim Hughes, with Albert Einstein Academy students, help plant trees on Arbor Day. (Photo by Anulak Singphiphat)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThank you for being with us today to dedicate the 18 newest tress in Balboa Park,\u201d said Jim Hughes, Friends of Balboa Park chair. \u201cThe planting of trees today is an example of what the Friends of Balboa Park does.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Balboa Park stewards have hosted an Arbor Day ceremony in the park for seven years, however the first celebration occurred on Saint Patrick\u2019s Day in 1904. Botanist and landscape architect Kate Sessions \u2013 called by some the \u201cMother of Balboa Park\u201d \u2013 hosted that first tree planting, which was attended by 3,500 school children. They planted 60 trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019re doing today, when you help us plant some of these trees, you\u2019re continuing something that started with Kate Sessions,\u201d Council President Todd Gloria told the students. \u201cThis park belongs to all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins said she was excited to tell the students a history of Arbor Day, including its start in Nebraska and the first official celebration in 1872. In 1970, President Richard Nixon declared the last Friday in April National Arbor Day.<\/p>\n

All speakers addressed the students directly, with Atkins telling of California\u2019s history as the home of many greats in tree history and San Diego Urban Forestry Council chair and arborist Mike Palat telling jokes and giving environmental facts. For example, the world\u2019s oldest tree, located in California, is 2,500 years old Atkins said, and Palat said urban trees live eight years on average.<\/p>\n

Of the 18 trees planted April 26, two are Blue Atlantic cedars, six are Helen Borchers Peach trees, four are Alexandrina Saucer magnolias and six are St. Mary magnolias. Mayor Bob Filner described each species and thanked the city\u2019s horticulturalist Mario Llanos for his work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe forget that we have a horticulturalist here in the park to make this the incredible beauty that it is. We thank you, Mario, for everything you do,\u201d Filner said.<\/p>\n

\"Albert<\/a>
Albert Einstein Academy students received oak saplings, donated by the Cohen family. (Photo by Anulak Singphiphat)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several private community members and local businesses donated the trees for planting, including Carol and Herman Wong, Jonathan Hayes, and The San Diego Foundation. Most were donated in the name of individuals with special connections to Balboa Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those people that we\u2019re honoring today are here today and they\u2019ll be here forever in spirit. Let\u2019s keep that in mind with these magnificent trees,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n

One honoree was Rory Ruppert, the former director of Balboa Park Cultural Partnership\u2019s Sustainability Program. Ruppert, who had a tree donated in her name by family and friends, died Feb. 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a magnificent woman that worked every single day to make this park more energy efficient,\u201d Gloria said. \u201cHer family is here today to make sure that her legacy continues by planting a tree in her honor. I can\u2019t think of something that Rory would want more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another honoree was John \u201cJack\u201d Krasovich, an Uptown resident and San Diego Park and Recreation employee who ran the Balboa Park division. Krasovich died March 1. Park and Recreation Director Stacey LoMedico attended the Arbor Day celebration, and honored Krasovich specifically.<\/p>\n

\u201cJack loved many things, but he loved his country, he loved his family, he loved God and he loved this park,\u201d LoMedico said. \u201cFor those of us that worked with Jack, we\u2019re very honored to have a donated tree in his memory. It\u2019s a very special day for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both LoMedico and Gloria thanked city employees, including Park and Recreation staff. \u201cIt is their dedication that we do have such a crown jewel,\u201d LoMedico said.<\/p>\n

Following the speakers, Park Ranger Kim Duclo invited the students to grab shovels and help cover the 18 nearby trees. Representatives from San Diego Gas & Electric and Urban Corps of San Diego County were on hand to help as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you plant a tree, it\u2019s a little bit like building a time machine because you\u2019re going to be sending something forward in time that says you were here this day,\u201d Duclo said to the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut a time machine can also go backwards,\u201d he said. \u201cFifty days from now, 50 months from now or 50 years from now you can come back [and] visit the trees you helped plant today. I hope that you will remember your friends that are here, your family [and] loved ones.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friends of Balboa Park sees 18 new trees planted in honor of lifelong park devotees By Anthony King | SDUN Editor Arborists, city employees, city and state leaders and students from South Park\u2019s Albert Einstein Academy joined the Friends of Balboa Park early morning April 26 to celebrate Arbor Day by planting new trees in […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Celebrating Arbor Day","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}