Editor:
Dave Uphoff
For the third year in a row Jason Gerdes, a nurseryman from Harvard, Illinois has donated trees to the City of Minonk. Our community is fortunate to have a benefactor like Jason to help keep our fair city beautiful. I am sure everyone in the community joins me in thanking him for his generosity and consideration. The retail value of these trees add up to at least $20,000. That is a sizeable contribution. Wouldn't it be great if every Minonk native was as generous to their hometown? Jason is a Minonk area native whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Steve Gerdes of Toluca, were both born and raised in the Minonk area. In addition, Jason's brother runs a landscaping business in the area. Jason's grandfathers, Frank Gerdes and Ray McNamara, were both farmers in the Minonk area, so working with nature definitely appears to be in Jason's blood.
Many of the donated trees were planted in the city parks, Sutton's Park and along the new Moran Street extension and have helped beautify the city. The city public works department workers are to be commended for their hard work in planting the trees.
When I moved back to Minonk 33 years ago I noticed how bare it seemed. Hardly any new trees were being planted. Especially barren was the Minonk Township Cemetery. I took matters into my own hands 15 years ago and started to plant trees in the cemetery which included a row of pear and horse chestnut trees along the north side, a row of sugar maples and lindens along the south end, and evergreens and lindens inside the cemetery. Five years ago a row of sugar maples were planted on the east side of the cemetery in memory of David Weistart and was funded by his family. Trees were planted along main street in downtown Minonk in memory of my mother 10 years ago.
I am not trying to blow my horn. Everyone knows I am a tree nut and will be leaving behind trees instead of children. Other people have donated trees to the city including the Businessmen's Association who planted the Norway maples in downtown Minonk. The point I want to make is, what would the city look like if not for the donated trees from over the years? The City itself and the Minonk Township Cemetery Board do not have a budget for planting trees and very seldom plant trees.
I think one could generalize by saying that the quality of a community is judged by the quality of its landscaping and its trees. I remember Minonk 55 years ago when its streets were lined with American Elm trees whose huge soaring branches created an archway over the streets. Minonk has not recovered from the loss of those trees to the Dutch Elm disease. There are entire blocks that do not have one tree in front of the residences. In particular, I am thinking of the south side of Fifth Street between Walnut and Lincoln.