Bacone’s beautification efforts include new trees

Local News

Related Photos

Newly planted redbud trees line the entry road and medians of Bacone College, part of the college’s beautification program.

Discussion

April 23, 2010

Bacone’s beautification efforts include new trees

‘The students are very appreciative’

By Cathy Spaulding Phoenix Staff Writer The Muskogee Phoenix Fri Apr 23, 2010, 10:10 PM CDT

—

Bacone College is experiencing new growth, but it’s not necessarily the student variety.

The college received 28 trees through a grant from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. Bacone Housing and Hospitality Director Denise Wilcox said the crews planted redbuds along the main entrance road and on medians. Two Japanese ornamental trees were planted at an entrance of Wacoche Hall, the campus dining hall. The trees replace trees that were damaged in recent ice storms or were simply dying of old age, Wilcox said.

The tree planting is the latest part of a beautification effort, not only on the 157-acre campus, but at the Bacone Inn dormitories across York Street from the campus. She said she started seeking to beautify the campus when she got her job in June 2009. Students are appreciating the effort, Wilcox said.

“It gives the students the idea that stuff is being changed for the better,” said Nathan Johnson, housing manager of the Bacone apartments.

“I had one student walk out of the Posey Hall dormitory and say ‘Are you giving us these trees?’ The students are very appreciative,” Wilcox said.

“We have many trees that have died over the years. Some were 100-year-old trees that were getting brittle inside,” she said.

Trees also had been damaged in ice storms of 2007, she said.

Johnson said many of the damaged trees were cut down and run through a stump grinder.

“We’re really building on what we started last year,” Wilcox said.

Trees also were planted along narrow medians in parking lots, such as one at Palmer Center, Wilcox said.

Wilcox said the Japanese ornamentals at Wacoche Hall will complement the entrance because they “are tall, but not wide.”

The beautification isn’t limited to trees. Campus crews also have planted flowers and shrubs by Wacoche Hall and the Bacone Inn.

Reach Cathy Spaulding at 684-2928 or cspaulding@muskogeephoenix.com.

Text Only

Local News

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Bacone’s beautification efforts include new trees

‘The students are very appreciative’

Will you find some way to provide assistance or donate to the recovery effort in the wake of the Moore tornado?

Site Map

Contact Us