Volunteers mark Earth Day, Arbor Day on base Published May 1, 2015 By Gene Barnett 88 Air Base Wing Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- "Earth Day is a celebration of our home," said Brittany Mitchell, natural resources technician with the 88th Civil Engineer Group. Mitchell organized a group of volunteers for Earth Day cleanup of the Hebble Creek tributary located in Kittyhawk Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The cleanup of the tributary is part of the base's observance of Earth Day April 22. "We should take this day to reflect on what it means to us and what we can do to ensure that the environment is preserved for future generations to enjoy and inhabit. We only have one earth and it's imperative that we maintain it," Mitchell said. Other volunteers expressed similar sentiments as Mitchell when it comes to the base and surrounding environment. "The more debris we can remove from Hebble Creek here at Wright-Patt will only help our surrounding communities downstream by eliminating a lot of pollution for them," said volunteer Mike Vaughn. "We have come a long way in the last 45 years with good regulations in place to continue to clean our rivers, lakes and streams." Chris Tumbusch said, "Volunteers chose to give back by cleaning the creek to keep Wright-Patt's waterways clean and to make sure that they stay that way for us and future generations." Kids enjoy planting trees for Arbor Day On a bright afternoon April 24, volunteers from the 88th Civil Engineer Group met at the New Horizons Day Care Center in Area A to plant three new trees with the children in observance of Arbor Day. Darryn Warner, Natural Resources Program manager, brought three young trees with him to help children mark the day. The trees are needed because the few existing trees around the day care are ash trees and will need to be removed, according to Warner. David Perkins, director of 88 CEG, started the planting day by reading a proclamation about Arbor Day to all of the children as they sat in a semicircle enjoying the bright sun shine. Warner passed out informational bags to the children about planting trees, the importance of recycling, recycled paper coloring books and recycled plastic made into pencils. "The best time to plant a tree is yesterday," said Warner. "By choosing to plant trees at the Child Day Care Center, we not only replaced a small percentage of the urban forest canopy that is rapidly declining due to the invasive emerald ash borer, we hopefully helped to educate the children of the importance of trees. Trees are beneficial in so many ways -- from helping to reduce the amount of storm water runoff, to cleaning the air we breathe, it is vitally important to educate the next generation of Americans to their importance." Warner continued, "Although the activity was fun and entertaining, we are hoping that by involving the children it will make a lasting impression, not only now, but in the future as they assist in the long-term care of the trees as well."