6th Annual Arbor Day Celebration to be held on April 25
Public Invited to Celebrate “Trees Are Terrific …Inside and Out!”

ROCHESTER, MN--- Rochester Public Utilities (RPU), Maier Forest and Tree, Rochester Park and Recreation, and the Minnesota DNR will hold its 6th annual Arbor Day celebration on Friday, April 25.

The day’s festivities will begin at Central Park in downtown Rochester. Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Mayor Ardell Brede will announce and present awards to the winners of the elementary school Arbor Day poster contest, free tree seedlings from the Minnesota DNR and approximately 700-1,000 trees from Maier Forest and Tree, Whitings, and RPU will be available while supplies last. Lunch of hot dogs, corn, chips, and soda will be provided, along with live music from Paul Mayasich with Benderheads. Smokey Bear and a balloonist will attend and information on tree planting and city forestry will be on display along with other activities.

Also in the afternoon, a tree planting ceremony will take place at Jefferson Elementary. Alicia Cowl, a 4th grader at Jefferson Elementary, is the 2008 elementary poster contest grand prize winner. Alicia’s poster will be used as the logo for the 2009 Arbor Day celebration. View winning poster

Other participants in the Arbor Day event include Hy-Vee North, Jim Whiting Nursery & Garden Center, Nature's Way Landscape and Nursery, RNeighborWoods, Rochester Public Works Department, Sargent's Gardens, Seneca Foods Corporation, Rochester Public Works, and The Home Depot.

RPU’s Partners in Planting program encourages tree planting for conservation with an online coupon available on the RPU web site, www.rpu.org, for $10 off qualifying shade trees purchased at Jim Whiting Nursery & Garden Center, Nature’s Way Landscape and Nursery, and Sargent’s Gardens. In addition, a $10 off arborist coupon is available, good towards the “No tree left behind” young tree maintenance program through Maier Forest and Tree.

RNeighborWoods will be hosting a tree planting event on the following day, Saturday, April 26 at 9:30 a.m. People are asked to meet at Sertoma Park located on West Silver Lake Drive N.E. and 10th Street N.E. A total of 100 trees will be planted in the Northern Addition neighborhood. A picnic lunch provided by Roscoe’s will follow the tree planting.

About Rochester Public Utilities

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 110 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 45,000 customers. Water customers number more than 34,000. RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive. Current initiatives include fuel cell research, wind power, and photovoltaic offerings.

###