The City of Monte Vista celebrated Arbor Day last Friday, April 27 at Marsh Park. Mayor Dale Becker was joined by tree board members Kirby Self, Carol Schroeder and Margot Alexander to plant four new Sensation Boxelder Maple trees. The trees were part of a grant the tree board received from the Colorado Tree Coalition to add color to the city and bring joy to future generations. The trees were selected for their heartiness and to bring variety to the park and are expected to bloom this year.  
Becker read some of the history of Arbor Day and discussed the importance of trees before students from the Monte Vista Kids Connection planted two of the maples in holes prepared by the City Public Works Department. Students Fanteysia, Addison, Heysenney, Owen, Caleb and Kat with the assistance of Kids Connection Director Anika Velasquez and volunteer Jim Poston, filled the holes and watered the trees, supervised by Public Works Director Rob Vance as well as Lowell Bolt, Jesus Juarez and Ramon O’Cana. In the ceremony, Becker read a line from Robert Louis Stevenson, “It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.”