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!

Cathy Horner does her best Vanna White impersonation backstage at Wheel of Fortune.

Q: How did you practice?  Were you nervous? 
A: I practiced by playing a Wheel of Fortune game on MSN and with the Wii game that my kids bought for me.  I knew I would be filming during their Sandals Resort Golf Week, so I reviewed a lot of golf terminology too.  I have always been a fan of word games like crossword puzzles and Scrabble so that also helped.  The contestant department spent several hours going over the rules and helping the contestants practice on the day that we taped the show, so I actually wasn’t nervous at all.

Q: Where did you tape the show? 
A: The show was taped at Sony Studios in Culver City, California.  They taped six shows in one afternoon.  Twenty contestants from around the country were on hand including another gentleman from Omaha who had attended the same Wheel Mobile event that I had attended.

Q: We need to know: what were Pat and Vanna really like? 
A: Pat was rather elusive and only appeared during the taping.  He was all business and was treated like The Star.  Vanna was much more personable and met the contestants in the morning and then met with select groups, like Make-A-Wish participants, during the afternoon.  She is so petite in person!

Q: What did you think of the overall experience? 
A: It was a great experience.  I had never participated in filming a TV program, so it was interesting to experience the “Lights, Camera and Action!” that really takes place.  I had my own make-up artist who had worked on high profile casts like Pirates of the Caribbean.  She followed me around with a powder puff and powdered my face every 15 minutes!  Sony has a beautiful set for Wheel and they also have studio tours.  Be sure to visit when you are in the greater Los Angeles area!

Q: When does your show air?
A: My show is scheduled to air on Wednesday, December 14th.  If you live in the Omaha area, watch for it on KETV Channel 7 at 6:30pm.

Q: So… did you win enough money to quit your job with the Arbor Day Foundation?
A: They asked us not to discuss any “winnings” before the show airs, but let’s just say this: my job at the Arbor Day Foundation is priceless.

“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.

By working with groups of children from inner-city neighborhoods, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with those who rarely venture beyond their front door. I grew up with a tremendous exposure to nature and the outdoors, but many students, especially from urban areas, did not. They spend their days inside with the many screens (TVs, computers, videogames, etc.) keeping them occupied. This is often because it is safer inside than out, and because they don’t know what to do outside. When they get off the bus at Arbor Day Farm and learn they are going to be outside all day, they quite literally are on “sensory overload.” This can even entail screams, tears, and clinging to the interpreter. To these children, being outside for more time than it takes to walk from the house to the car is terrifying, and this is not an irrational fear on their part. They have never had the opportunity to spend significant amounts of time outside, and we fear what we don’t know. 

Thanks to the Arbor Day Foundation and the Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure, I had the privilege of leading children through significant time in nature. We had lots of “first” experiences: seeing deer for the first time, being “actually in the woods” (as they would say), and learning that yes, woodchips really do come from trees. Most of the children left wishing they had more time in this natural setting.  The children I worked with this summer left with some knowledge of the world around them, and an introduction to the lessons nature has to teach. (My favorite lesson? Nature does not discriminate:  a mosquito will suck anyone’s blood.) Without J. Sterling Morton and his yearning to plant trees, these children would have spent another day inside.

So what is Arbor Day all about? To me, Arbor Day is about a lot more than trees. It is about appreciating the nature that surrounds us. Through the time I spent with children this summer at Arbor Day Farm, this lesson became apparent, it also became apparent that they would never look at nature the same way again. These little steps, child’s play, are helping to move cultures back to nature, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Hanna Pinneo is a Nature Interpreter intern at Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure, majoring in Parks and Recreation at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She enjoys hiking, playing outside with her nephew and dog, and spending time with her friends. As a National Team member of the Natural Leaders Network, Hanna is dedicated to reconnecting all children with nature.

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.

Forests help snow melt and rain water soak into the soil to replenish rivers and streams during dry times. Trees stop silt from eroding into our waterways. They serve as natural filters to clean sparkling mountain streams, healthy lakes and reservoirs, and our nation’s vast web of rivers.

Why is that important to us? As U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, “While most Americans live in urban areas, most of us depend on rural lands, particularly forest lands, for clean water and a healthy climate.”

One example is New York City. In the late 1990s, city leaders balked at a $6 billion water treatment system and instead opted for natural forest management to clean the water it receives from the Catskill/Delaware watershed in upstate New York. The focus is on creating conservation easements along streams and reservoirs, and protecting forest lands to keep sediment and runoff from entering the water supply. The watershed provides New Yorkers with more than 1 billion gallons each day of some of the cleanest, healthiest drinking water in the world.

Millions of Californians rely on crystal-clear water flowing from the San Bernardino National Forest and other California forests to quench their thirst.

In Colorado, the South Platte watershed, which rises high in the Pike National Forest, supplies Denver with drinking water.

In Scotland, trees in The Trossachs National Park protect nearby Loch Katrine, which provides Glasgow its water supply. These are just a few examples of how our dependence on clean water also depends on healthy forests.

 

One way of keeping our forests healthy is to plant trees. The need to replant our forests is vitally important because of damage from insects, disease and unprecedented wildfires. Every year, new areas in critical need of replanting are identified – places where fires burn so hot that the seeds of future forests are destroyed. While we don’t know where the critical needs will be 10 years from now, or 40 years from now, we do know that our forests will continue to need our help.

To mark its 50th Anniversary in 2006, Enterprise Rent-A-Car made a meaningful and significant commitment to help replant our forests through an enduring partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. The Enterprise 50 Million Tree Pledge will plant 1 million trees every year for 50 years.

We are now in the sixth year of this partnership and, together, we will have planted six million trees where they have been needed most — in nineteen projects around the world thus far…including the San Bernardino National Forest, the Pike National Forest, and The Trossachs National Park in Scotland.

These six million new trees are just the beginning. Through the next 44 years, thanks to the vision and commitment of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the next 44 million trees will be planted wherever they will best serve people, our environment, and water resources for generations to come.

There is no substitute for clean water. Water is a vital resource that we rely on every day. We can’t create something else to take its place.

But we can plant trees.

The next time you turn on the tap, remember the role trees play in keeping our drinking water clean and safe. And when we next think of forests, we’ll think of majestic beauty, clean air, habitat for wildlife…and healthy, abundant water for this and future generations.

John Rosenow
Arbor Day Foundation

Full post available on the Enterprise Forewords blog.

What a great time of the year here at Arbor Day Farm.  The soil temperature is rising, the buds are swelling, the bulbs are breaking through the ground, and the tree seedlings are heading out the door.  Our annual spring tree shipping season is upon us and I thought I’d describe what it takes to seamlessly send more than 2.5 million seedlings to all of our Arbor Day Foundation members during Spring 2011. 

As you might expect: It all starts with a great plan.

The tree shipping crew at Arbor Day Farm.

The Foundation’s tree order forms and special offers begin to arrive in our members’ mailboxes in the late winter and early spring months. About that same time the tree shipping team builds a plan to deliver all of the healthy, ready-to-grow seedlings at just the right time for your hardiness zone.  The entire plan is based on somewhat of a “right time, right tree, right place” method.  As we survey our projections of how many seedlings we believe we will ship, we begin to firm up the plan on how we will deliver the total volume of mail throughout the United States based on hardiness zones, weather, volume, etc.

With the plan in place and a target end date in mind, we begin the shipping process.  In 2011, we began on March 3rd and are targeting mid-May for finishing.

Currently we have 30 different species of seedlings that make up 40 different tree offerings for Arbor Day Foundation members.  All seedlings are stored in an on-site cooler at 38 degrees, which ensures good dormancy and keeps the seedlings fresh and the fungus threat low.  We paint a stripe across the tree stem and include a color-coded chart that helps the recipient identify the different tree varieties in the package (anywhere from five to 12 trees can be included in the same packet). After painting, the roots get inspected for health and are dipped in a water-holding gel that helps the roots retain adequate moisture during shipping.  The seedlings are then bagged, the appropriate paperwork is inserted, the bags are sealed, and the the appropriate mailing label is applied to the packet.  The packet then joins thousands of other packets of seedlings, and makes its way to your doorstep via the postal system. 

A color code system helps identify tree seedlings from the Arbor Day Foundation.

For those of you who might be near Nebraska City, this entire tree shipping process is open to the public for viewing. Stop in at the Apple House Market on Arbor Day Farm, 9am to 3pm during this shipping season (through mid-May), and you’ll find us working on what used to be known as the apple sorting floor. Feel free to watch us process lots of trees to lots of members all around the globe.

 By having a good plan, following it closely, paying attention to the weather, and inspecting the quality of theproduct, the Arbor Day Foundation tree shipping team ensures delivery of seedlings that not only you, the recipient, will be proud of, but a group of seedlings that have every chance of establishing themselves as the trees of tomorrow. 

We look forward to sending trees to you, too.

Adam

Adam Howard is the Manager of Nursery Operations at Arbor Day Farm and a Certified Forester with the Society of American Foresters. He has been in the forest industry for 11 years and contributes regularly to this blog. For more information on how you can receive trees from the Arbor Day Foundation, visit arborday.org.

The fox has something in it’s mouth — what do you think it is?

We’ll share more photos as we get them. Until then… sleep tight!

It rained on us a bit, but that didn’t put a damper on the fun. And let’s face it — Arbor Day Farm is the complete opposite of most people’s work environment, with all that green space and fresh air, and all those trees…

We put together this short video highlighting Bring Your Kids to Work Day 2010; kids say it best, don’t they? Enjoy.

Watch the Video — “Bring Your Kids to Work” Day, Arbor Day Farm Edition

And there are countless ways to do our part, from big investments in our home or landscaping, to small changes in our everyday habits. Thousands of people all around the world will participate in trash pick-ups, they’ll commit to reusable bags and water bottles, the’ll take public transportation or get in on a carpool, or maybe plant some trees in their yard or community.

As a certified arborist with the Arbor Day Foundation, I must admit that planting trees is hands-down my favorite way to give back to the planet.

If you’re planting trees this Earth Day or Arbor Day, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

The Right Tree in the Right Place
While the act of planting a tree may only involve an hour or two, the care and management of that tree will last your entire lifetime. It’s worth the time to carefully consider where you will be planting trees. A few extra minutes spent making sure the trees you plant are appropriate for the site and soil conditions will ensure strong, healthy trees for years to come. The Arbor Day Foundation has great tips for planting trees in the right place on their website.

But after the tree is in the ground, the hole is filled with dirt and the shovel is back in the toolshed, what happens then? How can you make sure that the trees you’ve planted enjoy a long, healthy life?

Deep Watering and Mulch
During the first couple of growing seasons your newly-planted tree is expending a lot of energy trying to get its roots established in the soil. Especially during the first few summers of the tree’s life, it will have a difficult time dealing with heat and drought. You can alleviate stress on the tree by providing adequate water and covering the soil with wood chip mulch. Deep watering can help speed the root establishment. Deep watering consists of keeping the soil moist to a depth that includes all the roots and can help speed the root establishment. Then in a few years, good, strong roots will have formed and your tree can withstand droughts on its own because it has a proper root structure.

But Don’t Over-Water
Deep watering is a good thing, but taking it too far and over-watering a newly-planted tree is a common mistake. Moist is different than soggy, and you can judge this by feel. A damp soil that dries for a short period will allow adequate oxygen to permeate the soil.

Ask Your Local Expert
Most people have no formal training when it comes to taking care of their trees. Fortunately, there is plenty of information available and local tree experts ready to help. Local arborists will know your region best and can offer helpful guidance, information, and websites to get your trees off to a healthy start.

On Earth Day, Arbor Day, or any day —- thank you for doing your part for the planet.

Robert Smith is a certified arborist with the Arbor Day Foundation in Lincoln, Nebraska. His great passion for planting and caring for trees on the local, national and international level fuels his service on numerous community tree planting organizations. Robert’s favorite trees are bur oak, dwarf chinkapin oak, and white pine. Ask Robert a tree question