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A bur oak tree planted by representatives of the Luverne High School Class of 2019 grows on the Rock County Courthouse lawn in honor of Luverne’s businesses.
The 94 graduates of the LHS Class of 2019 spent Friday as “Senior Service Day,” a decades-old tradition of students spending a half day helping out the community in various ways on the last day of high school.
Each senior selected one of a dozen assignments including picking garbage out of The Lake, sweeping and raking at the county fairgrounds, scrubbing the veterans memorial, and a special first-time planting of a bur oak.
Seniors Jenna Zewiske, McCall Stegenga, Greta Ahrendt, Jessica Anderson, Lilli Donohue and Jadyn Anderson cleaned the Veterans Memorial in downtown Luverne.
As part of their duties, the same group helped representatives from the Luverne Area Chamber and the Luverne Convention and Visitors Bureau plant the first bur oak in Luverne as the kickoff to the program of the Silent Oak Society in Luverne.
The tree was planted in honor of Luverne businesses.
The goal of the society is to help the community engage in planting one of the “most majestic and original trees of the prairie,” according to its promotional brochure.
For a fee, a bur oak can be planted in memory or in honor of a person or group. The tree can be planted on public or private land.
Society members will register the tree and its location online as a thank you for supporting Luverne’s community reforestation efforts.
Contact the Luverne Area Chamber, 283-4061, for more information.