PENDLETON — Pendleton resident Jeff McKinney said West Street, where he lives, “was just so pretty and tree-lined” before the Memorial Day tornado last year.
“Now it’s just open,” he said, describing the appearance after many trees in the area were taken down by the storm.
A tree-planting effort funded largely by an Arbor Day Foundation grant will help Pendleton take a big stride — albeit a long-term one — toward restoring its tree canopy, which suffered significant damage when an EF2 tornado tore through town on May 27, 2019.
“It’s 300 total, so there’s going to be 100 trees planted in Falls Park, and then there’s 200 trees that will be planted on residents’ property,” Pendleton Planning Director Rachel Christenson said, describing what will take place during a community planting day set for Oct. 24.
About 500 trees were lost during the tornado, Christenson said.
The 300 replacements will be a mix of large varieties, such as bald cyprus, shumard oak and chinkapin oak; and small and medium types, such as Allegheny serviceberry, American hornbeam and pagoda dogwood.
The grant came through Arbor Day Foundation’s Community Tree Recovery Program. The program matched Pendleton’s need with a sponsor, in this case Memphis-based International Paper.
“They have awarded us $15,800 to carry out this project,” Christenson said. “So part of it is, we’re going to do a video of the day; we have these trees we’re going to plant; and we have buckets that we’re going to give to these homeowners who are going to be having trees planted in their yards, that will help them with the watering — just trying to give everyone the tools that they need to have a healthy tree planted and have it live.”
Others have joined the effort, which was postponed from May because of the pandemic.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Community and Urban Forestry Division, is helping by sending volunteer arborists and “tree stewards” to town to help prepare for the planting day.
They will meet with property owners “to make sure that the tree that the property owner picked out is right for the location where the property owner wants it to go,” Christenson said. “We want to make sure that we’re planting the right tree in the right place. We don’t want a tall tree, a large tree, to go underneath a power line.”
The state is also helping ensure everything is well organized, she said, “so we can pull off a successful project.”
South Madison Community Foundation, Pendleton Parks Department and Friends of Falls Park are also in on the action, as are a lot of individuals.
“We said at the time of the tornado that we’d be there for any and all recovery projects, and we’re just following up on that,” said Tammy Bowman, executive director of the community foundation.
She said the community foundation “built a system into our website and into our staff” for tornado recovery efforts early on, and it just makes sense for it to help out here.
Christenson said the goal for the next several weeks is to lay the groundwork for planting day, so when the time comes volunteers can head out in small groups, with several small trees, plant them in precise, appropriate locations, with the knowledge they’ll be cared for.
“We’re really excited,” she said. “It’s really going to be a very cool, like, buttoned-up experience for our homeowners.”
More than half the trees for residents are spoken for; those interested in having a tree planted on their property should go to a link on the town’s Facebook page or website, Christenson said.
Residents who would like a tree but don’t have access to the Internet, or don’t feel comfortable filling out the form, can call Christenson at 765-778-8370 for help.
McKinney — who lost two large trees on his property, including a black walnut tree in his backyard estimated to be 140 years old — has requested one of the 300 replacement trees for his property.
He’s also signed up to volunteer on Oct. 24.
He said he thinks it’ll be fun to lend a hand and that eventually the new trees will restore some of the shade that was lost in his neighborhood.
“Maybe someday the future generations will enjoy that kind of canopy down the street,” he said.
