TERRE HAUTE —
An $8,900 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation has led to the planting of 100 trees on four higher-education campuses in Vigo County, as well as a university site in Clay County.
“The 100 trees are to commemorate Duke Energy’s Century of Service and Innovation, a yearlong celebration of our Indiana operating company’s 100 years of service,” said Rick Burger, Duke Energy Indiana west district manager.
“We take a lot of pride in our communities and this is just one way that we can make that happen,” Burger added.
The grant was given to TREES Inc., an all-volunteer urban forest council. The grant covered the cost of planting 25 trees each on the campus of Indiana State University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, St. Mary-of-the-Wood College and Ivy Tech Community College.
“They have been very good to us from the first day and this is a special gift to have 100 new trees in the community,” Joy Sacopulos, founding member of the 22-year-old TREES Inc., said of the Duke Energy grant.
All but one of the trees had been planted as of Monday, Sacopulos said.
William Kincius, senior manager of landscape and ground services at Rose-Hulman, said 20 weeping cherry trees and five tulip poplar trees were planted on campus by student volunteers.
The weeping cherry trees will have pink blossoms and produce small cherries, which are not for human consumption, Kincius said. Weeping cherry trees were selected in acknowledgment of Rose-Hulman’s relationship with the Kanazawa Institute of Technology in Japan. The country of Japan is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of donated trees planted in 1912 in Washington, D.C.
“Any cherry trees we could plant this year would be appropriate,” Kincius said.
Tulip poplar trees are the state tree and native to Indiana.
The planting is part of Rose-Hulman’s move to replace trees on campus. “Nobody for several decades prior to now has really made it an initiative, so we are bringing that up as a priority” to dedicate annual resources to tree planting, Kincius said.
“We have to plant tomorrow’s forest,” Kincius, former Terre Haute city forester, added.
Stephanie Krull, landscape and grounds manager at Indiana State University, said the majority of its 25 trees were planted at the university’s field campus in Clay County. Five trees were planted on its Terre Haute campus, including at the ISU’s Student Recreation Center, Krull said.
Indiana State University planted Canadian Hemlock trees, Krull said.
Julie Hansen, director of development at Ivy Tech, said the 25 trees were planted on its campus as part of the college’s trail of trees project. “We are trying to accumulate a collection of the trees of Indiana for learning and educational opportunities for the students and community,” Hansen said.
The Duke grant allowed Ivy Tech to obtain Oak and Sassafras trees, said Amy Metcalf, director of marketing for the Terre Haute campus.
David Shields, who maintains TREES’ Web site, is to develop a QR (quick read) code that will be placed on several trees on each campus. The codes will allow smartphone users to quickly access TREES’s Web site to learn about the tree and identify it as one of 100 trees planted this year in honor of Duke Energy’s 100th anniversary of service in Indiana.
More information on TREES Inc. can be found at www.treesinc.org and on Duke Energy at www.duke-energy.com.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
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