Duplainville crossing
On the afternoon of July 29, 1997, a southbound Wisconsin & Southern freight, led by former Southern Pacific EMD GP20 No. 4118, is about to thunder over the diamond at Duplainville, Wisconsin. In the background on the Soo Line’s former Milwaukee Road double-track main line is Wisconsin Central train 47, waiting at the connection track signal to head north on the WC main after the WSOR train clears the plant.
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Macdonald Foundation awards nearly $45K in scholarships
A foundation that recognizes students from Marathon County and the Merrill area recently awarded 28 Work Ethic Scholarships for the 2024-2025 college school year.
The Macdonald Foundation, established by Mark and Donna Macdonald, owners of the Wisconsin Woodchucks, awarded $44,750 in scholarships to 16 graduating seniors and 12 current college students.
Graduating seniors are eligible for…
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History of Earth Day & Arbor Day in Parks
First Annual Earth Day Birthday Parade and Celebration in Union Square on April 22, 1970
Earth Day began in 1970 as a way to raise awareness about environmental issues. Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, and Denis Hayes, a young environmentalist, joined to organize events across the country and "shake things up." Following that first Earth Day, which was celebrated by 20 million people across the country, President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.
For the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, thousands participated in various sanctioned events in New York City. Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic from Union Square Park to Central Park, and 14th Street between 3rd and 7th Avenues was transformed into an "Ecological Carnival."
First Annual Earth Day Birthday Parade and Celebration
Union Square Park served as the focus of numerous Earth Day observances and teach-ins throughout the metropolitan region. Over the day, some 100,000 people were estimated to have thronged to the square in one of the largest demonstrations there since the socialist rallies of the 1930s. The empty streets resulted in at least one picnic spread at the intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, and Mayor John V. Lindsay repeated the idea during the summer of 1970 when he closed Fifth Avenue to traffic for four successive weekends. The City also banned cars for the day in Central Park in Manhattan, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Forest Park in Queens, and Silver Lake Park in Staten Island.
First Annual Earth Day Birthday Parade and Celebration
Earth Day became a global event in 1990; the event has been celebrated in earnest with tours, events, and volunteer opportunities at parks across the city since 2000. For NYC Parks, Earth Day is a chance to honor our green spaces and how we care for them, and to raise awareness about how we are working to shape a greener future for our city.
Youthful zeal and environmental activism join forces as celebrants hoist a tree at Union Square Park on the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970. Photo by Daniel McPartlin; courtesy of Parks Photo Archive.
Arbor Day Observed in the City
Arbor Day, celebrated on the last Friday in April, dates to 1872 when it is said that over one million trees were planted in Nebraska. Julius Sterling Morton, originally from upstate New York then living in Nebraska, was instrumental in establishing the day. New York State has been celebrating Arbor Day since 1888, and Arbor Day has been celebrated at NYC Parks for years. In 1906, Arbor Day festivities were held in playgrounds, "thereby inculcating a true love for nature," according to the 1906 Annual Report.
Planting Trees for New York City
With the support of Big Bird, Mayor Bloomberg helps plant the first tree of the MillionTreesNYC initiative, October 9, 2007. Photo by Daniel Avila.
Inspired by the million trees planted in Nebraska in 1872, NYC Parks and the New York Restoration Project launched MillionTreesNYC in 2007. The goal of the citywide public-private program was to plant and care for one million new trees across the city. In his support for this tree initiative, Mayor Michael Bloomberg pointed out that trees help clean the air and reduce the pollutants that trigger asthma (an endemic problem in underserved areas of the city) while also cooling streets, sidewalks, and homes on hot days, and increasing property values and encouraging neighborhood revitalization. In 2015, thanks to help from NYRP, additional partners, our many volunteers, and nearly 50,000 New Yorkers who helped plant trees in our parks, on neighborhood streets, and in their own backyards, we planted our millionth tree.
Some 20 million people took part in the first Earth Day protests held across the United States on April 22, 1970. In New York City, the streets near Union Square Park were turned into an "ecological carnival" in one of the largest demonstrations the city had seen in decades. Photograph By Santi Vissalli, Getty
In the last 20 years, Parks has worked to diversify New York City’s street tree species to make our urban forest stronger and more resilient. We currently plant over 200 tree species that are well suited to the urban environment because they’re able to withstand soil compaction, drought, flooding, air pollution, high pH soils, and strong winds. More information can be found on our Approved Species List page, the NYC Street Tree Map, and our 2015 Street Tree Census Report.
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