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Show 1Z Hilltop Times iifess July 23, 1992 t yv' I f V. i -- ;' - ' vt v i. iV ..1s t. - . i, v "" . ' , - f ,f y Photos by Maj. Wode Hobshey For the future . . i ' ' i " J5 - - v $ . - ? ; - A I - . y t , J Above, Matt Comb (left) and fellow Scout Dave Dolan look over their handiwork. Right, a sign marks the location of Hill's new tree farm. Below, two Scouts carefully plant the seedlings. fT by Maj. Wade Ogden ALC J. Habshey Public Affairs Director v A Hill AFB Boy Scout has taken his place in along with Father Junipero Serra and Johnny Aj ;. csced by planting trees for future generations. hi the 1700s, Father Junipero Serra marked his travels by scattering mustard seed along the trail from Mexico to San Fernando, Calif. In the 1800s, Jonathan Chapman planted apple seeds and started trees throughout the Midwest. History knows Chapman as Johnny Appleseed. - Now the Boy Scouts of Troop 55 under the leaderMatt Combs have picked up ship of where these environmental visionaries left off by planting nearly 900 trees and creating the newest tree farm on base. "The environment, or what the Scouts have always called 'conservation,' has always been a big concern," said Life Scout Combs. "This seems like the right thing to do for the environment." And doing the right thing was a task that Combs enthusiastically took on three months ago. At his instigation, he and 30 members, friends and parents of the troop showed up at the northwest corner of base to help plant trees. The teen-age- r got that enthusiasm going back in his-tor- ld March when he chose planting a tree farm as his community service project for his Eagle Scout rank. "The purpose of the badge is to teach us how to plan," Combs said. "That means getting people involved, finding the right people to help and coordinating the effort so the job gets done. Everyone was excited about helping." With the immediate backing of the Troop 55 Scout Leader, Bob Carda, and Col. Steven Emory, 2849th force Air Base Group commander, the farm in was soon involved pulling the tree project together. "Matt Combs is persistent," said Carda. "But, his persistence is contagious and that resulted in getting this project going." The civil engineering squadron took the lead in spearheading the project by clearing two acres of land and installing a sprinkler system complete with electronic timer. They also assisted with and supervised the planting. Then on July 11, the volunteers set to work digging small holes and placing a small tree in ea.ch hole. Among the 900 seedlings they planted were Norway spruce, Scotch pine, Colorado blue spruce, white fir, lilacs and Engleman spruce for future use around Hill. er "What these kids have done is put quality into the environment," said Kirk Cronquist, Hill AFB grounds maintenance foreman. "Everyone likes to talk Total Quality, but this team is, doing it. The whole project was based on teamwork, empowerment and, with the interest in making this tree farm work, a certain degree of quality assurance." Cronquist, who oversaw the CES effort for the tree farm, praised the Scouts and this project. "A project like this gives us a chance to reinvest in the future," he said. The CES provided the tree seedlings for the project. Cronquist added that everyone will save from this project because, "In terms of money, it costs less to grow the trees this way so they can be transplanted around the base in years to come." Matt Comb's initiative didn't stop with this project. He and a fellow Scout, Dave Dolan, plan to start work on another tree farm on base in the near future. "My concern about the trees isn't limited to this Eagle Scout project," Combs said. "I'd like to see how these trees look a couple of years from now .... I think they'll be all right." Carda agreed. "Considering that we planted these trees with a lot of Matt's enthusiasm, these trees will be just fine in the future." |