Arbor Day Farm is eager to celebrate the 141st anniversary of Arbor Day in 2013, the tree planter’s holiday, which started here in Nebraska City back in 1872. J. Sterling’s vision for a “holiday that proposes for the future” is alive and well in communities large and small, all over the world.

Here in Nebraska City, Arbor Day’s hometown, we’re planning lots of fun.

Special Activities at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City

Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure is open extended hours on Saturday & Sunday, April 27 & 28, from 9am to 5pm. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for youth (age 3-12).

Tree climbing is always a hit at Arbor Day Farm.

Special events for Arbor Day 2013 at the Tree Adventure attraction include tree climbing, cross-cut sawing competitions, Arbor Day Farm wine tasting, face painting, bubble making, live music and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Outdoor Family Fun Trailer.

During this special weekend celebration, Discovery Rides into the orchard and forest at Arbor Day Farm will depart at noon, 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday, April 27 & 28. We’re hoping for beautiful pink blossoms in the orchard by this time, so don’t miss your chance to see them up-close. Bring your camera! Discovery Ride tickets are $4 for adults; $3 for youth (age 3-12).

The Tree Adventure’s regular features are always available on every visit:
• Climb the 50-foot-high treehouse
• Hike the wooded trails.
• Solve mysteries in the Nature Explore Club Cabin.
• See the feature film, Trees in the Movies, where trees are the stars of the show
• Make music in the Nature Explore Classrooms
• Scramble up the 20-foot Spider Web

Also during your visit to Arbor Day Farm, be sure to stop and shop at the Apple House Market.  Choose from delicious food items, small gifts, home decor and Arbor Day Farm wines — the perfect souvenir from our own vineyards.

Download the Arbor Day Farm Celebration Flyer (PDF), which includes a map to find your way to all the special activities.

The mansion at Arbor Lodge State Historical Park in Nebraska City, Nebraska

Special Activities in the Nebraska City Community

The entire Nebraska City community takes great pride in being the birthplace of Arbor Day, and celebrations happen all over the city to mark this great event every year.

For the 2013 Arbor Day Celebration, the Nebraska City community has selected the theme of “Dig It, Plant It, Grow It.”

Nebraska City Arbor Day events include a 5k/10k run/walk, a parade, a chili cook-off, a home and garden show, and more activities for locals and visitors alike.  Download the Nebraska City Arbor Day schedule of events for complete details.

Regardless of how you celebrate Arbor Day, two simple words sum it up best: Plant Trees!

Missouri River Cottonwoods: A Plan for Restoration

Jan 30 by Lied Lodge Blog in Arbor Day, Cottonwoods, General, Missouri River, Nature, Trees tagged Arbor Day Farm, Arbor Day Foundation, cottonwoods, Missouri River, Nebraska City, The Nature Conservancy, tree care, trees with no comments

Employees of the Arbor Day Foundation and The Nature Conservancy were together again on the Missouri River bank last week, clipping and collecting thousands of cottonwood stem cuttings.

Gathering near Union, Nebraska, the volunteer crew set out to collect as many as 10,000 healthy donor cuttings that will be replanted in the Missouri River Valley this spring.

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Members’ Hazelnuts: Now Growing

Jan 22 by Lied Lodge Blog in Arbor Day, General, Greenhouse, Hazelnuts tagged Arbor Day Farm, greenhouse, hybrid hazelnuts with 13 comments

Late last summer, the Arbor Day Farm greenhouse staff reached out to a select group of Arbor Day Foundation members – specifically those who’d signed on to further the research of the hybrid hazelnut program.

We needed their help, and they didn’t disappoint.
First, a little backstory:

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The Cottonwood Project: Restoring a Riverbank

May 18 by Amy S. in Arbor Day, Cottonwoods, General, Nature tagged Arbor Day Farm, cottonwoods, Missour River, Nature, Nebraska City, The Nature Conservancy with 1 comment

How do you plant 1,500 cottonwoods? One tree at a time.

A crew of employees from the Arbor Day Foundation and The Nature Conservancy gathered this week to bring cottonwoods back to a section of land near the Missouri River bank, just north of Nebraska City, Nebraska. The restoration project
is a collaborative effort of the two organizations, along with the U.S. Forest Service and the Nebraska Forest Service, designed to bring life and sustainability back to the riverbank.

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Arbor Day Employee Takes a Spin

Dec 09 by Lied Lodge Blog in Arbor Day, General tagged with no comments

Editor’s Note: The Arbor Day Foundation’s very own Cathy Horner, Human Resources Manager, was selected to appear on the gameshow Wheel of Fortune recently. Naturally, we’re all very excited for her. We had a number of questions about the game show experience, which she was kind enough to answer for us in this blog post. Tune in to watch Cathy on Wheel of Fortune on December 14, 2011.

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Q: How were you selected to be a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune? 
A: My daughter and I attended a Wheel Mobile event, on a whim, last April when Sony Studios was crossing the country in their WheelMobile (a big yellow RV) screening contestants for the Wheel of Fortune.  I was lucky enough to be chosen at random to answer puzzles with a group of people on the stage they set up to look just like the real game show.  After that, I was selected to attend a second audition with a more rigorous screening process.  A couple of weeks later, I was sent a letter stating that I was selected to be a contestant!

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An Intern’s Perspective: It’s More Than Trees

Aug 15 by Lied Lodge Blog in Arbor Day, General, Nature, Trees tagged Arbor Day, Arbor Day Farm, forest, fresh air, trees with 2 comments

Editor’s Note: We asked our intern, Hanna, to write a blog post about her Arbor Day Farm experience this summer. Below is her contribution. Thank you, Hanna, and may you touch many more lives in nature in the years ahead.

“What is Arbor Day all about?” I ask this question of the visitors during my tours at the Tree Adventure and Arbor Day Farm. As you may expect, I get a variety of answers:  anywhere from planting trees to Johnny Appleseed to saving the planet. I tell them that they all are close, and explain the need to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. 

Throughout my summer as a Nature Interpreter Intern I have learned a lot, starting with the Arbor Day Foundation’s mission and now ending with heirloom varieties of apples. My time this summer, however, has taught me that Arbor Day is about more than just trees.

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Trees, Water, and Sustainability

Apr 26 by Lied Lodge Blog in Arbor Day, General, Nature, Trees tagged Arbor Day Foundation, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, forests, planting trees, watershed with 2 comments

The Arbor Day Foundation works with many corporate partners to continue the important work of tree planting. Enterprise Rent-a-Car is one such partner. The following is a guest blog post by the Arbor Day Foundation’s founder and chief executive, John Rosenow, as posted to the Enterprise Forewords Blog on 4/26/11.

When we think of forests, we think of trees, the wonders of nature, of sheer beauty, and clean, fresh air. We often don’t think about the water we drink.

We should.

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