By Karla Pomeroy
Editor
Guardian Flight continues beautifying walking path
Community encouraged to help plant four trees Saturday
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WORLAND — Planting roots and beautifying Worland’s bike path is what the Guardian Flight tree planting project is all about.
Guardian Flight nurse and base manager Keith Van Brunt said they will be planting four trees on Saturday along the walking/bike bath adjacent to Airport Road starting at 11 a.m. They are looking for community participation to help plant the four green ash trees. Participants will receive a free Guardian Flight shirt.
“We’re planting four trees, three of them are being planted to identify the number of people we have on duty 24 hours a day, the medical crew and pilot,” Van Brunt said. The fourth signifies the community Guardian Flight serves — Washakie County.
“We wanted trees because trees grow roots. We want to be here long term and keep our roots in the community. It’s our way of giving thanks,” he said.
He said they selected green ash because it met all the requirements for the bike/walking path — relatively low maintenance, will grow in the soil there and the roots won’t grow into the road. They will also eventually provide shade along the path.
The first tree will be planted about 15 feet from the Washakie Leadership Institute Class of 2017 beautification project that was put in last year.
Van Brunt said he got the idea from the Washakie Leadership Institute. He said the class toured Guardian Flight and during their graduation dinner talked about community project they came up with, landscaping the start of the path at Washakie and Airport Road. The WLI landscaping included plants, installation of a drip irrigation system, decorative rock and a bulletin board. The project runs 75 feet along the east side of the path.
“I thought it would be cool to be part of it and continue the beautification effort,” Van Brunt said so he contacted his supervisors and once they agreed to the project, the planning began. He said there is the possibility of putting in a bench between two trees but that would be at a later time.
Van Brunt said he is doing a lot of preparation work prior to Saturday including pre-digging the holes and connecting water lines.
In addition to the people who will be volunteering Saturday, Van Brunt has also had generous donations from businesses in the area to help with the digging and preparation work, he said.
Washakie County contracts with Guardian Flight to provide medical air evacuation to Washakie County residents. The base is at the Worland Municipal Airport.
