Things to Do:
Celebrate Arbor Day Weekend By Kathy Barnett/Managing Editor
In honor of Arbor Day this month, visiting the city where it all began offers a “full-of-adventure” extended weekend getaway for the whole family. Julius Sterling Morton, the founder of the official Arbor Day holiday, was actually born in Adams, New York. With a love for nature (and newspapers), he attended school at the University of Michigan where he met and maried Caroline Joy French. They left for Nebraska on the day of their marriage where he became the editor of the Nebraska News. Once settled in the prairie lands of Nebraska City, Julius missed the trees from the Eastern states and actively promoted agriculture by supporting better farming methods, conservation programs, and tree planting. He served as the territory’s Secretary of State and later as acting governor. He left politics between 1878 - 1882 to more actively promote agriculture and during that time helped create Arbor Day, the holiday for planting trees. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day that is now celebrated in all 50 states. This year, the Arbor Day celebration is scheduled for the weekend of April 29 through May 1. Continuing a tradition that started 150 years ago, local schoolchildren will celebrate Arbor Day with an educational and entertaining field trip to Arbor Lodge State Park from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. the first day. Explore all of Arbor Day Farm’s 260-acre campus, including a Tree Adventure, Discovery
Ride, and hunting for 150 hidden prizes. Look for envelopes containing prize hunt certificates hidden in the trees - both inside and outside. When you find one, go to the front desk at Lied Lodge to turn it in and redeem. Prizes include Arbor Day Farm wine, attraction tickets, t-shirts, meals at Timbers and Porter’s, and Lied Lodge overnight stays.
Free admission is offered to visitors of the Arbor Lodge Mansion throughout the weekend in celebration of Arbor Day’s 150th Anniversary. You can take a self-guided tour of this 52-room mansion and learn all about Arbor Day’s history. There is a new display of the women of Arbor Lodge in a recently - opened section of the home.. Take time to explore the park grounds while there, complete with a visit to the arboretum, an Italian terraced garden, and more than 200 varieties of beautiful lilacs. April, 2022 ~ EXTENDEDWEEKENDGETAWAYS.COM | -67-
