Arbor Day Commemorates Citizens

Arbor Day in the City of Falls Church is actually Arbor Days. It will take not one, but three days to complete Arbor Day festivities in Falls Church, beginning this Friday.

Separate tree plantings and dedications in honor of seven Falls Church residents are the reasons for the extended celebration. Two plantings will be for current residents, and five in honor of citizens who have passed away.

Here is a summary of the events planned from this Friday through Monday:

• Friday, April 16, 9 a.m. A fringe tree will be planted at the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in honor of Louis T. Olom, commemorating his receiving the "Spirit of Falls Church" award from the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS).

• Friday, April 16, noon. A redbud tree will be planted on the George Mason Middle and High School campus to honor the life and work of the late Nancy Sprague, who devoted much of her adult life to the Falls Church School System and the community. The planting will occur on the east end of the campus near the Technology Learning Center.

(Note: for this event, it is important that those attending know they cannot park in the student parking area on Haycock Road, because empty space there will be due to students away from campus for lunch. On campus, attendees may park in visitor parking or in Lot B by the softball field.. Twenty spaces will be available at the VFW building on Shreve Road behind McDonald's, but attendees must park in the rear of that building, only, because a truck will be making a delivery there in the front. Attendees are urged to arrive early due to an expected parking crunch).

• Saturday, April 17, 3 p.m. A community Arbor Day ceremony will be held at Frady Park on E. Broad St to honor the lives of Florence Murphy, Nan Netherton, Lorraine Williams and Robert Fraser with the planting of redbud trees. As this marks the 112th anniversary of Virginia's first Arbor Day, which occurred in Falls Church, the Falls Church Victorian Society will open the ceremony with a reenactment of the 1892 ceremony. Free refreshments will follow the ceremony.

• Sunday, April 18, 1 p.m. One of the City's regular Neighborhood Tree Planting Program efforts will commence from the intersection of Highland and Pine. While this is not officially part of Arbor Day festivities, it does involve trees.

• Monday, April 19, 10:30 a.m. a redbud tree will be planted at the Mt. Daniel Elementary School in honor of departing Falls Church Schools Superintendent Mary Ellen Shaw.

All the trees honoring individuals are funded by the VPIS. An additional redbud tree, sponsored by the Falls Church Garden Club, will be planted in Frady Park as the 2004 Arbor Day Tree. Redbud trees have been designated by the Falls Church Tree Commission as the "Tree of the Year" in the City.