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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
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January/February 2021
Davey's Omaha R/C office installed new lightning protection
on an over 150-year-old bur oak tree called the Morton
Oak at the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Nebraska.
"The tree had some old lightning protection that needed
to be redone," said Kevin Marks, market manager, R/C
services. "The tree has sentimental and historical
importance to the Arbor Day Farm, and they wanted to
do all they could to keep it around for the next 100 years."
The Arbor Day Farm is the original estate of J. Sterling
Morton, the founder of Arbor Day. Morton planted the
Morton Oak himself.
The whole project took about three days to complete.
Alex O'Neill, foreman, did a wonderful job, Marks said.
"He was able to piece everything together and came up
with a really great finished project," Marks said. "He
understood the importance for the longevity of this tree
and went out of his way to do everything perfectly."
This project was a collaborative effort with the National
Business Development Team (NBDT), R/C services, and
the Davey Institute.
Brain Borkowicz, project developer, NBDT, made the initial
contact with the Arbor Day Farm. Borkowicz arranged the
meeting with Marks, Josh Rongish, district manager, and
the Arbor Day Farm to plan lightning protection and hazard
mitigation work at the farm. R.J. Laverne, manager, education
and training, Davey Institute, consulted Marks and Rongish
on the right lightning protection for the Morton Oak.
A sign, donated by Davey, was installed to educate Arbor
Day Farm visitors about lightning protection and it includes
a QR code with information about Davey. Megan Townsend,
project specialist, corporate marketing, worked with Arbor
Day Farm staff on the creation of the sign.
As a result of this successful collaboration project and
relationship building by the Omaha R/C office, additional
tree care work has been awarded at the Arbor Day Farm
property, Borkowicz said.
"While working on this project, we felt that pull from
history that this was a great opportunity to give back to
arboriculture and take care of the history of what's gotten
us here today," Marks said. "For me personally, it really rang
home how many trees planted at people's homes around
the country started at the Arbor Day Farm. Getting to go
out there and work at the farm was special."
ARBOR DAY FARM'S
MORTON OAK RECEIVES
NEW LIGHTNING PROTECTION
VISION
This sign at the site explains how the system protects the Morton Oak.
The Morton Oak stands at the Arbor Day Farm with its new lightning
protection installed by Davey.
