A labor of thanks
at vets' resting place

By Donna Halvorsen

Staff Writer

They came, they clipped, they chipped and they tipped their helmets to the veterans who lay below the marble stones all around them.

"A lot of these men sacrificed their lives for our freedom,'' said Jim Ostvig. "This small donation is nothing compared to their sacrifice.''

The donation was the labor and equipment needed to trim trees at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery, where 150,000 veterans are buried.

About 4,500 funerals are conducted at the cemetery each year - an average of 18 a day - but there are no burials on Veterans Day. So for the third year in a row, members of the Minnesota Society of Arboriculture spent the day trimming cemetery's locust, oaks, ash and linden trees.

Tree companies large and small sent several dozen of their workers to the site on a sun-splashed and unusually warm Veterans Day. Some climbed trees with ropes, while others glided to the treetops on cherry pickers.

Ostvig, the organizer, said the trimmers couldn't possibly get to all the trees on the 435-acre site, but those that are trimmed will be healthier and nicer looking.

It's best to begin trimming trees when they're young, said Lynn Welles, who with her husband, George, owns Northeast Tree in Minneapolis. But trimming middle-aged trees, such as those at the cemetery, can help them live longer, she said.

Cemetery superintendent Art Smith said the cemetery, which opened in 1939, will be expanded by 150 acres next year. In addition, a columbarium is being built with above-ground niches to hold cremation urns.

Published: Star Tribune - November 12, 2005
Edition: METRO
Section: NEWS
Page#: 3B