Arbor Day Walk pays homage to historic oak

FREMONT — Celebrate Arbor Day and America's 250th birthday with a walk through Spiegel Grove to the bicentennial oak — one of the oldest trees in the arboretum, which dates to the American Revolution — on Friday, April 24. John Havens, building and grounds superintendent at the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums site in Fremont, will dress in colonial garb and lead the group from the museum main entrance to the oak. The tree is located on the side of the historic Hayes Home at Spiegel Grove, the grounds of the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums and an accredited arboretum. The group will meet at 8 a.m. at the museum's main entrance. This event is free. People can just show up without prior registration. Havens will discuss the history of the tree, which is one of the largest in the arboretum, and share some colonial tree history. The bicentennial oak and many of the oaks on the property are located along the Sandusky- Scioto American Indian Trail, which was later known as the Harrison Trail, and spanned Ohio from Portsmouth at the southern tip to Port Clinton at the northern terminus. "Those are what we call witness trees," Havens said. "As anyone moved along the Harrison Trail, those trees would have witnessed it all." This event is part of Hayes Presidential's yearlong America 250 celebration. Partial funding for America 250 events is provided by Albrechta & Liebold, Attorneys at Law. For more information, call 419-332-2081 or visit rbhayes.org.