Medina, Albion plan Arbor Day events
Photo by Tom Rivers: Medina kindergarten students help plant a tree last year on April 28 on Arbor Day. The new tree was planted at Rotary Park on Main Street. This year’s Arbor Day celebration will be at Butts Park.
Medina will push back event to May 4, while Albion does tree-planting Friday at Mount Albion
The villages of Albion and Medina are both getting ready for Arbor Day events.
Medina was planning a tree-planting celebration this Friday at Butts Park, but the event has been pushed back a week “due to the tragic and unexpected passing of Mrs. Andrea Lonnen,” said Chris Busch, chairman of Medina’s Tree Board.
Andrea Lonnen
Lonnen, a kindergarten teacher, passed away on Sunday at age 45. She was a big supporter of Arbor Day and had her classes help plant trees. Her calling hours will be on Friday and Busch said many teachers and members of the school community want to pay their respects to Lonnen.
Arbor Day in Medina will instead be celebrated the following Friday on May 4.
“Each year, hundreds of students from Oak Orchard School attend Medina’s Arbor Day Celebration. Mrs. Lonnen and her kindergarten class were always in attendance,” Busch said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Lonnen family and the students of Oak Orchard Elementary School at this time. Mrs. Lonnen will be greatly missed in our schools, our community and especially at Arbor Day.”
The Arbor Day celebration will start at 9 a.m. at Butts Park. This year’s celebration will be in honor of Wilson Southworth, who passed away at age 70 on Dec. 8. Southworth was a long-time member of the Tree Board, its vice chairman and a staunch proponent of reforesting the Village of Medina.
Albion will also hold an Arbor Day celebration this Friday at 1 p.m. at Mount Albion Cemetery (near the Watson Mausoleum). Tim Archer, a seventh-grade service learning teacher, and his students will be part of the program that includes remarks from Mayor Eileen Banker and County Historian Matt Ballard.
