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Marshalltown alumni return home to plant trees with senior students

T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Marshalltown High School senior Jack Play and Alma Rivera Reyes put a tree in the ground outside of Rogers Elementary on Thursday.

The Marshalltown High School Class of 1969 kicked off the annual Oktemberfest celebration by planting trees – 14 of them outside of Rogers Elementary.

Nine members of the alumni class and nine senior students spent a few hours digging the holes and putting the trees firmly in the soil as part of the effort to replace 800 trees lost in the 2018 tornado.

Lew Miller, a 1969 graduate, said the class set up the MHS Bobcat Alumni Fund to help replace trees and have raised $100,000 as a result. At 2 p.m. Sunday in the Riverview Park Community Building, the class will present the check to the city of Marshalltown.

“We are very community-oriented,” Miller, who was elected class president in 1969, said. “We raised money for the electronic sign for the high school. We helped with fundraising for lights at the baseball diamond. We are providing a legacy of our class. We might not ever see the shade of these trees but this is to re-beautify Marshalltown.”

The money did not solely come from members of the class of 1969. Miller said numerous alumni from 30 graduating classes donated, along with a variety of local organizations.

T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Marshalltown High School seniors Jack Play and Sequoia Mendoza dig a hole for new trees planted in the ground outside of Rogers Elementary on Thursday.

“No matter where we live, Marshalltown is still home,” he said. “It hurts to see parts of it destroyed. This is part of the healing process.”

Miller was present at Rogers Elementary and said it was fun teaching the students about trees; how to plant them and what they do for the environment.

Miller is set to give a speech at the check presentation and gave the Times-Republican a small preview of what he will say:

“The one who plants trees, knowing that we will never sit in their shade, has started to understand the meaning of life and our never ending love for this community.”

Also on Sunday, there will be a donor picnic dinner from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Riverview Park. More trees will be planted at 9 a.m. Monday at Woodbury Elementary and 1 p.m. at Franklin Elementary.

——

Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com

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