High and mighty: Arbor Day festival celebrates trees

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This article was published 03/06/2022 (1567 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s a chance for people to channel their inner Tarzan.

Champion tree climber Jesse Antonation, who has been conquering Manitoba’s tallest trees since 2001, will help city folk reach new heights at the Arbor Day festival at Kildonan Park Saturday.

Antonation and fellow climbing champion Jordyn Dyck will give tree rides at the event put on by the non-profit organization Trees Winnipeg.

Guests of all ages can get a bird’s-eye view from the tallest trees in the park by learning how to safely climb a tree or get a lift in a bucket truck.

“It seems to be a favourite event at the festival,” Antonation said. “It’s all about the kids, so we love to show them how fun tree climbing can be.”

The festival is returning this year for its 21st year and first since 2019. It will also have craft stations and woodcarving.

“There’s nowhere better to learn about trees and their importance,” said Arbor Day chairman Matt Vinet. “We see a lot of kids that come in, get up into a tree and develop a lifelong love for trees. We like to have fun with the event while getting the education and important message out.”

The festival, which will have 150 volunteers, including some of the city’s most experienced arborists, is meant to be more than just a fun day of family activities.

“Now more than ever, it’s super important to plant trees. In Winnipeg, we are losing so many trees to things like disease and invasive pests,” said Vinet.

“A lot of people are interested in planting and caring for trees, but it’s important for them to know that we have to do it the right way, so we don’t repeat the mistakes we made with Dutch elm disease and emerald ash borer.”

The City of Winnipeg says more than 33,000 elm trees have been lost due to Dutch elm disease since 2016. In recent years, the city has begun a program to remove infected trees and replace them with a wider variety of species.

In partnership with Trees Winnipeg, the city launched the Million Tree Challenge in 2021 to help rebuild the urban forest. The MTC is a collaborative effort with the general public to plant one million trees by the time the city’s population reaches one million.

“We launched the Million Tree Challenge because we recognize that planting the right tree in the right place and maintaining it for future generations is one of the most enduring legacies we can leave,” Kerienne LaFrance, supervisor of urban technical services said.

“Arbor Day is a great way for the public to get involved with purchasing trees and attending workshops for tree care and planting.”

At the festival, Trees Winnipeg will hand out nearly 2,000 trees, involving 25 species, to those who purchased them through the ReLeaf program, which sells affordable quality tree packages that count for the tree challenge.

Vinet and his team of volunteers arrived at the park a day early to receive and sort the two-year-old trees, which were grown in Portage la Prairie and Carman.

The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

bryce.hunt@freepress.mb.ca

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