Millersburg first-graders plant Arbor Day trees, celebrate Tree City USA roots

Millersburg’s Arbor Day planting was more than a classroom lesson. It was a sign of how the village keeps paying into its public tree canopy, from school grounds to neighborhood streets, under the responsibilities that come with Tree City USA status.

Millersburg Elementary first-grade classes took part in the village’s annual Arbor Day program at 1:15 p.m. on April 25, with Holmes Soil & Water Conservation supplying the saplings for students. Village notes also said the 2026 celebration was the final Arbor Day observance at Millersburg Elementary this spring, with 2027 planning already tied to the new central elementary school.

Mayor Kelly Hoffee proclaimed April 24, 2026, as Arbor Day in the Village of Millersburg, keeping a local tradition that has paired civic recognition with hands-on planting. In past years, the village has used the holiday to hand each first-grader a sapling to take home, turning the event into a small but visible investment in the next generation of trees.

That local effort sits inside a larger Tree City USA program that began in 1976 with 42 communities in 16 states and now includes communities in all 50 states. To qualify, a community must maintain a tree board or department, adopt a tree ordinance, spend at least $2 per person each year on community tree care and hold an annual Arbor Day observance. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says Ohio has 239 Tree City USA communities, and the state’s awards ceremonies are held each spring.

Millersburg’s own tree work has continued well beyond Arbor Day. In prior local coverage, the Millersburg Tree City USA Committee said it had planted more than 100 trees around town, including several on school grounds. In 2024, arborist Brent Schrock told first-graders that trees provide oxygen, food, shelter for animals and birds, cool the atmosphere and help reduce flooding. That same year, a red oak was planted on the hillside north of Millersburg Elementary School, one more reminder that the village’s green space is built tree by tree, season by season.