Readying shade for future kids

College Park Elementary School third-graders will have a new shade tree to read and daydream under in a few years after their new Willow pittosporum tree takes root in one corner of the school yard.

The Newport-Balboa Rotary Club sponsored the donation of the tree, provided by West Coast Arborists, on Thursday in observation of Arbor Day. The club picks a different elementary school each year to honor with a donated tree.

“The tree will be a great place for kids to go out and read and sit under,” said College Park Principal John Sanders. “We feel lucky to have been chosen this year.”

More than 2,200 tiny seedling trees also were distributed to local schools this week as part of the Arbor Day celebration.

“It always amazes me how excited the kids are,” said Peter Smith, Arbor Day chairman for the Newport-Balboa Rotary Club.

“I like seeing the kids and it’s a chance to educate them about the environment and global warming.”

Smith has been helping organize the Arbor Day festivities for the past 12 years and is know at local schools as the “tree guy.”

Local Rotarians have been distributing seedling trees to Newport-Mesa third-graders each Arbor Day for the past 41 years, Smith said.

The group has now donated about 94,000 trees over the past four decades, he said.

This year, students received pink trumpet seedlings. The trees are native to Brazil and produce pink flowers.

Reporter BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].