Priscilla Richardson

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What supplies us with oxygen, summer cooling and beauty, too? Each and every tree around us. Those benefits are only three reasons for Arbor Day. The day celebrates trees, especially public trees in towns and cities. And this year, Buchanan's public trees, those planted on town property, give the town itself an honor: the honor of being called an official Tree City USA.

You don't just count your trees and call yourself a Tree City. According to Cloverdale's Bob Boeren, the Virginia state forester for this area, you have to meet four specific criteria. First of all, you have to have a proclamation by the mayor or town council. Then you have to spend at least $2 per person on planting, care and maintenance of public trees. Boeren says Buchanan, with about 1,200 folks within its limits, therefore has to spend about $2,500. Harry Gleason obtained a grant from Valley Beautiful to get the tree fund started. And he asks for donations to keep it going, from individuals and organizations such as churches and civic clubs. Donors get their names on a plaque in the town hall.

A Tree City USA also must have a tree board that looks after the trees on the street and in parks. For now, that board consists of Gleason, Mayor Tom Middlecamp and Boeren. Finally, there must be a tree ordinance protecting the public trees from being cut down.

Whew! Once you get all that in place, all you need is an Arbor Day proclamation each year, starting now. Boeren sends everything to the national foundation, and the foundation supplies two signs to place at the entrance to the town.

Everyone involved in this Tree City process invites you to join them in the town park on Lowe Street by the James River at 11 a.m. April 4 for the culminating celebration. "Of the 52 communities in Virginia that have this honor, Buchanan is the only new one this year," Boeren said.

This year, second-graders from Buchanan Elementary School will help plant a special tree in the town park. Each person there will get a pine seedling to plant at home, too. High school student volunteers will plant maples and flowering trees in the park. Following the ceremony, students will have lunch and then a tour of the Buchanan Downtown Historic District.

Boeren, 49, will use this time to spread the word about his services available to anyone in Botetourt. He fights forest fires, trains others in the same thing and inspects logging operations. But he'd rather work with landowners to help them make management plans for their property. This service from the Virginia Department of Forestry also helps us protect our trees from pests, such as the ash borer, a new bug from Asia that kills ash trees.

"Do not plant ash trees," Boeren advised. "And harvest grown trees now for their valuable lumber, before they're wiped out." When this borer does hit Virginia, he estimates about 1 percent of our forest will die. "Part of my job is to know about insects and disease."

Boeren, a New Jersey native, came to Virginia after earning a graduate degree from Clemson University, where he met his wife, Sarah. They both started out as rangers with the national park service, but when they came here, she started teaching in Bedford County. He loves to coach, too, and their two children have been lucky enough to have him coach their church teams.

Anyone who loves breathing clean air should support Arbor Day and remember all the good things trees do for us all year long.

To donate to the Buchanan Tree Fund, send your check made out to the Town of Buchanan Arbor Day Celebration Fund with your name, address, phone number, and if you want the donation made in honor or memory of someone, that name, too. Mail to P.O. Box 205, Buchanan VA 24066.