Sowed at the edge of the bumpy, rutted wagon tracks on the Old Mission Peninsula, majestic sugar maple trees eventually spread a canopy over winding roads.
White settlers planted the trees in what is thought to be a united effort in 1876. As a century passed and roads became modernized, the trees aged and began dying. Decades later, Center Road and others on the scenic peninsula are barren of shade and greenery, negating a historical link.
Retired farmer and lifelong Old Mission Peninsula resident Cal Jamieson recalls the arching beauty of the trees.
"It was awesome, especially around the Old Mission Tavern, starting there down to Mission Road — that was just like driving through a tunnel, just fantastic,” he said of a segment of Center Road.
Since 1999, a committee of the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society has been dedicated to reversing this situation. The tree planting project was conceived of and is led by Old Mission Township residents Rebecca and Leo Nothstine. Both in their early 90s, they are sowing a legacy that will span generations, aided by other committee members including Bob Dean and Bernie Kroupa, both natives of the peninsula.
"I live and breathe the trees,” said Rebecca Nothstine, who moved to the area in 1938 to teach in the Old Mission School. "My husband and I, that's the big thing we devote our life to: planting trees on the peninsula.”
One of the early plantings was a Gettysburg sycamore on the grounds on the Old Mission Peninsula School. Donated in 1999 by society member Deni Hooper, she turned the event into a mini-history lesson on Gettysburg for fifth and sixth graders. The young tree had been propagated from a tree mature in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln gave his famous address there.
During extensive renovations two years ago at the school, the sapling was accidentally destroyed. This summer, another Gettysburg sycamore was planted in a new spot on the grounds. The three-foot-high spindly sapling will be a robust tree one day, noted Nothstine.
"I was so inspired by the fact that the kids were so responsive,” she added of the original planting.
Funded entirely by donations separate from the society, the Nothstines and other volunteers have sowed trees in rows ranging from 4 to 10 to 40, primarily along the Center Road with some on Island View and Swaney roads and in the village of Old Mission.
Nothstine estimates that in eight years the project has planted more than 200 trees, a mix of mountain ash, red maples, sugar maples, oaks and American chestnuts.
"Over 50 volunteers have helped with the plantings,” she said.
Some trees required more care than originally thought and have died. The committee is considering just planting hardy maples in the future, although the mountain ash trees have been popular as memorial trees. Each memorial tree purchased in memory of someone includes a small plaque at the base, an option that helps promote the project among both donors and landowners.
All trees are planted in private land with landowner's permission; they are contacted first and most have been enthusiastic about it.
"Every site doesn't require a tree, you don't want your orchards shaded or your vineyards shaded,” added Nothstine.
Volunteers will boost their care taking tasks for each tree planted to increase the survival rates. The committee may also consider planting fewer trees at a time to facilitate this, Jamieson noted.
"From now on, not plant so many at a time and take real good care of the trees: weed kill them and fertilize them,” he said.
For more information on the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society's tree planting effort or to request a memorial tree, call Rebecca Nothstine at 223-4448 or Cal Jamieson at 223-4394.