The Homewood-Flossmoor Park District invited second grade students from Willow School, and a third grade class at Churchill School, to come to Indian Trails Park in Homewood on Thursday to plant trees as part of its Arbor Day celebration.
Blue skies and balmy temperatures made the walk of several blocks to the park at Reigel and Willow Roads a great break from classroom routines. Once there, the students split up and rotated through activities, including following a story trail and reading information placards about trees. Others enjoyed games at the tennis courts.
District holds a young tree in place at students
from Willow School help fill the hole. The park
district marked Arbor Day by planting four new
trees in Indian Trail Park.
(Marilyn Thomas/H-F Chronicle)
The main event was planting four trees. The kids assisted parks staffer Gabe Gacsko in planting the trees. Each child got a chance to add dirt to the hole around the tree or add mulch to help the tree retain water.
The plantings are the first for the park that was decimated by the July 2024 tornado that wreaked havoc in the Southgate neighborhood. The storm downed 17 mature trees and others were trimmed up after being damaged, said Patrick McAneney, the park district’s superintendent of parks and planning.
Maya Popelka, 9, a student at Churchill, sent the park district a letter after the storm asking that the trees be replaced and suggested that a flower garden could be included. She lives a few blocks from the park. She and her mom enjoyed the park with its walking trails. Her mother would jog and Maya followed along on her bike.
Park. She sent a letter to the Homewood-
Flossmoor Park District asking that it replant
trees after a July 2024 tornado took out 17
mature trees. (Marilyn Thomas/H-F
Chronicle)
“I wanted to help plant trees so it could be like it was,” she said. “It was like a forest, and you could walk through it, and it was nice and calm.”
McAneney said the park district over time will replace all 17 trees. A new tree costs about $150. The Marian Council of the Knights of Columbus made a donation to the tree fund. Families also choose to purchase a tree as a memorial. For information on how to support the replanting at Indian Trails Park call the park district office at 708-957-0300.