Bob Bickelhaupt Honored with
Arbor Day Foundation's Enersen Award
NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. - Bob Bickelhaupt, of Clinton, Iowa, received the 2005 Lawrence Enersen Award for outstanding tree planting and conservation work in his community at a special awards ceremony held Saturday, April 30. The awards ceremony was part of the 33rd annual National Arbor Day celebration held in Nebraska City, home of Arbor Day founder J. Sterling Morton.
Bickelhaupt and his wife founded the Bickelhaupt Arboretum, which welcomes more than 20,000 visitors every year. Boasting a visitor center, a meeting space, and a library, the arboretum also hosts education programs with Eastern Iowa Community College to provide comprehensive environmental education for children and adults. With more than 2,000 labeled plantings, the arboretum has one of the ten best conifer collections in the country. The arboretum also hosts a National Display Garden for the American Hosta Association.
The Enersen Award is given to individuals whose life work exemplifies commitment to tree planting and conservation as a way towards community improvement. It was created to honor the memory of Lawrence Enersen, who was a trustee of the Arbor Day Foundation. Each year the Foundation honors individuals and groups from around the country that make a commitment to planting trees and embrace education as a way to continue Morton's legacy of environment stewardship for future generations.
Mr. Bickelhaupt was invited to the Foundation's annual awards weekend held in celebration of National Arbor Day. Arboretum Director Francie Hill traveled to Nebraska to accept the award on behalf of Bickelhaupt. Festivities were held on the 260-acre historic Arbor Day Farm, part of Morton's original estate. Other Arbor Day Award winners, including the winner of the second 2005 Enersen Award, Alan Hirsch of Sacramento, California were also present. Hirsch is the founder of the Arden Street Tree Program, which retains street trees on privately owned front yards in his area.
The National Arbor Day Foundation is a million-member, nonprofit education organization dedicated to tree planting and environmental stewardship. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available online at arborday.org.
Bickelhaupt Arboretum Director Francie Hill accepts
the Enersen Award from John Rosenow, President
of the National Arbor Day Foundation.
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