To the Editor:

I have always loved trees. Climbing them as a youth and gazing at and planting trees as an adult are joyful activities. Watching any neighborhood tree being cut down always feels like a personal loss. The amount of leaves to clean up in the fall is evidence of all the birch, crabapple, linden, and other trees  I planted in my yard over the years.

So when I received a phone call from Ray Przybelski, Portage County Health and Human Services Director a few weeks ago, asking about the origin of a Colorado Blue Spruce tree outside the Ruth Gilfry Building employee break room, I flashed back to the early 1980’s…

Portage County had merged its’ Social Services, Public Health, and 51.42 Disabilities Board (Of which I was an employee) County Departments, and moved all those employees into the Ruth Gilfry Building located on Whiting Avenue. The employee break room had a large glassed-in corner facing south and west, and outside was a grass and weed filled area to view. So one spring afternoon, I bought a small 3 foot blue spruce at the south side Shopko (On sale of course!) and planted it in that spot. One year later, I was digging out that dead tree,returning it to Shopko with receipt in hand to pick out another to plant again.

So Ray listened to my story, and then told me it was being cut down, as it was deemed to be too big for the space it occupied. It wasn’t all bad news, though, as that tree was to become the official 2018 Stevens Point Christmas Tree!

Trees are a wonderful resource. They are good for your health. They are easy on the eyes. Trees improve a person’s mental health. They are good for the soul. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas

Jim Canales
Stevens Point