Friday, Feb. 26, 2010
John Spevak: Honoring Bob Edminster on Arbor Day
By John Spevak
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ReprintArbor Day is next week, and this year Los Baños has at least two particularly good reasons to celebrate.
The first reason is, of course, trees. The second is Bob Edminster. At this year's Arbor Day celebration, one week from today, Bob will be honored with a city proclamation, recognizing the many things he has done for trees in Los Baños.
Arbor Day will be celebrated this year on Mar. 5 in Southbrook Park, a relatively new facility located at 1155 Turquoise Dr., not far from the intersection of Ortigalita and Cardoza roads, near the large soccer field. The event will start at 4 p.m.
Besides the usual festive Arbor Day activities--including the annual certification of Los Baños as a Tree City USA, the announcement of the Arbor Day children's art and essay contest winners, and a tree planting demonstration by Obie O'Brien -- Bob Edminster will be honored.
Recognizing Bob on Arbor Day is clearly appropriate. Bob has done more for trees in Los Baños than any person in the city's history. Ever since the day Bob moved from Merced to Los Baños in 1971, he has talked about the importance of trees to our city and encouraged the proper planting and maintenance of trees throughout the Los Baños area.
As an instructor at the Los Baños Campus of Merced College, Bob in his physical geography and botany classes explained to students the important roles trees play in the local ecology and showed students the different species of trees native to California that thrive in Los Baños.
As Los Baños began to experience its first spurt of growth in the late 1980's and early 1990's, Bob and a few other residents noticed that many new homes and businesses were being built without any trees being planted nearby.
So along with people like Sheila Campbell, Susan Spevak, and Shiena Polehn, Bob helped initiate the first Los Baños Arbor Day celebration in 1989, to highlight the importance of trees to the community.
It was a simple event with only a few people attending, but as part of the program Bob gave a demonstration of proper tree planting, which he continued to do for each Arbor Day for the next 18 years.
Bob also worked with the same group, along with then Parks and Recreation Director Rick Dahlgren and Parks Supervisor Joe Sousa, to start the City of Los Baños Tree Committee in 1990. Bob was an active member of that committee for 20 years.
In 1991 the Tree Committee, with Bob playing a key role, worked with the city's staff and submitted an application for the first time for Los Baños to be designated a Tree City, USA. That initial application was successful, and Los Baños had kept the Tree City designation ever since.
Several years later, Bob helped the city apply for and receive a grant which resulted in the planting of trees along the CCID canal, from Pioneer Rd. to Center Ave. Now, one of the finest trails in the city is also a place where walkers and cyclists can see the rich variety of trees that grow tall and strong and green in the Los Baños area.
As a member of the Tree Committee, Bob has used his knowledge of trees, especially of tree species native to California, to help the city pass ordinances to insure trees would be planted, and he helped develop lists of trees appropriate for residential, business, and city property.
Bob has also worked with both city and private tree pruners, to guide them in the best pruning methods to preserve the trees' health and longevity.
And maybe the most remarkable thing about Bob is that after he retired from his job as full-time instructor for the local college campus, he became even more active in advocating for green space and trees. For the last 15 years he has continued to volunteer his time to the community to educate people young and old on the importance of trees.
Even after he was diagnosed with bone cancer Bob has continued to talk about and advocate for trees. One of the projects he's working on now is the development of a web site to display photos of trees in Los Baños, especially those along the CCID canal. Next to each photo Bob plans to put an identification and description of the tree, in what kinds of places and soil it could be planted, and how it should be maintained.
Over the past four decades Bob has worked hard for trees but hasn't been interested in getting any credit or notoriety for his work. I am glad Bob will be honored at this year's Arbor Day, not only because he deserves the recognition but to show people, especially young people, what one person can accomplish.
I am hoping that participants in this year's Arbor Day will notice that one person can make a significant difference in a community like Los Baños, especially if that person --like Bob Edminster--believes passionately in a cause and works tirelessly for its advancement.
I am hoping that the young people attending this year's Arbor Day will become inspired by Bob's example and include in their lifelong work a willingness and determination to make their community, as Bob has done, a better place in which to work and live.
Comments on the writings of John Spevak, a regular Enterprise columnist, are encouraged and can be sent via email to spevak@telis.org.