ELDRED/GLEN SPEY, NY (March 29, 2012) – Arbor Day will be celebrated on April 27, 2012 this year and 55 Fourth Graders in the Eldred school district will roll up their sleeves and plant a tree.
The kids will become members of Fourth Grade Foresters. The project’s goal is to help revitalize the observation of Arbor Day in America’s schools. Fourth graders at the George Ross MacKenzie Elementary School in Glen Spey will receive trees to take home and plant.
Members of the Eldred Lions Club, which is sponsoring the trees said, “As a newly formed Lions club, we’re always looking for ways to better educate our youth. This is a fantastic program for them to be part of and we are delighted to be able to bring it to the fourth graders of the Eldred School District.”
“This project is made possible because community business people like the Eldred Lions covered the cost of each of the individually packaged evergreen trees, so that there is no cost to the students, the teachers, the school, or the taxpayer,” said Debra Ersch, co-founder of the Fourth Grade Foresters Project. “It’s a wonderful way to show support for the community, education and the environment.”
Fourth Grade Foresters USA was created to provide a simple and inexpensive way for any individual, business or organization with to send the 4th Grade students at an elementary school home with a tree of their own to plant and care for. Each fourth grader receives an individually packaged 12-18 inch evergreen tree seedling packaged by workers with disabilities.
Now tree planting is even more important than ever. Trees take carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere and clean the air we breathe. Planting trees is a simple, inexpensive and easy way to improve the community.
The Catskill Chronicle 
I remember planting one foot tall, pine seedlings on the hill between the modular school rooms and the classrooms at the bottom of the hill. I often looked out the windows of the classrooms and had fond memories of planting the trees, eating lunch with my classmates on the hill and watching those trees grow for years to come… Something as simple as this, touched my heart with fond memories of many good times… We all need to plant more trees….