Davey Tree Flipbooks

Addison Grace Waldron, 5, carries two wreaths through an aisle of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery for last December's Wreaths Across America event. She is the granddaughter of John Moss, shop manager in Dulles. Idea submitted by: Mike Rolband, vice president of operations, WSSI, and John Moss, shop manager, Dulles I t is possible to lay more than 400,000 wreaths in one day, at one special place. Thanks to 50,000 volunteers, including Davey and Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI) employees, Wreaths Across America was able to lay one wreath on each and every gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery for the first time last year. Fitting, as 2014 was a milestone anniversary for Arlington—150 years. "I'm always in awe by Arlington National Cemetery," says volunteer Amy Connelly, market manager and senior associate environ- mental scientist at WSSI. For the sake of honoring U.S. veterans during Christmas time, Wreaths Across America volunteers lay wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery gravesites each December. The concept began when a married couple began placing wreaths at Arlington in 1991, thanks to production from their Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine. The goal was to lay a wreath at every gravesite, but until last year, the value of donations and number of volunteers for Wreaths Across America hadn't yet allowed them to do so. In mid-December, volunteers gathered at the cemetery for the wreath-laying event. Before I magine encountering a living piece of American history dating back to colonial times; the last standing Liberty Tree of the original 13 colonies. Although it has since been damaged and removed from the St. John's College campus, you may be able to visit descendants of the last surviving Liberty Tree in the future. Retired forester Champ Zumbrun has been trying to germinate descendants of the Liberty Tree, a yellow tulip poplar, for more than two years. He called in Davey's Chesapeake R/C crew to help make his vision a reality by gathering seedlings from the second generation tulip poplar. Volunteer crews from Davey arrived with a The Liberty to a Legacy Davey's Chesapeake R/C crew helps remove seeds from the top of a tulip poplar tree, a descendant of one of the Liberty Trees of the original 13 colonies. certified arborist and aerial truck to assist. The crew was responsible for removing seeds from the top of the tulip poplar; the seeds would only be accessible from an aerial truck. Zumbrun is working to cultivate the seedlings in a laboratory. If there is successful germination, the seedlings will be planted in the ground. As District Manager Craig Ritter said, "I would love to see how much offspring they can create and see where they are put to be used by future generations." The original Liberty Tree stood on the St. John's campus until 1999 when a hurricane destroyed it. Legend has it that colonial Marylanders would discuss their British rebellion under that exact tree. 8 | March/April 2015 Uniform Spirit

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