THIS ALASKAN CEDAR, seen here on Tuesday, was planted at Harpswell’s Elijah Kellogg Church in 1959, the same year Alaska became the 49th state.
An Alaskan cedar tree flown to Maine and planted across the street from the Elijah Kellogg Church in Harpswell still stands today. The tree was planted to commemorate the 49th state’s addition to the United States.
The Harpswell Red Wing 4-H Club directed the proceedings, and Sen. Margaret Chase Smith and Gov. Clinton Clausen were present for the Arbor Day celebration 58 years ago.
THIS PLAQUE, seen here on Tuesday, was dedicated in Harpswell in 1959.
“My father had an idea that our 4-H Club should transport a tree from Alaska to Maine and plant it in commemoration as Alaska joining the union,” said Blackstone, who was a teenager at the time. “He didn’t know if a tree from Alaska would even survive in Maine, so he contacted the Department of Agriculture and soil samples were sent from Alaska. We determined the tree would be able to grow in Maine.”
An Alaskan cedar sapling was then selected, flown to Washington, D.C. and presented to Smith before being flown to Brunswick Naval Air Station in mid-April.
“Gov. Clausen then encouraged my father to invite everyone we could to the ceremony,” said Blackstone.
Blackstone said that earlier that year, the 4-H Club had sent cloth bags out to each of the other 48 states — and one to Hawaii, which would become a state later that year — to collect soil samples to be used in the tree planting. All states sent back samples, including Hawaii.
“They only sent us a tablespoon because shipping was so expensive,” said Blackstone.
On the day of the ceremony, Blackstone said there were speakers, singers and poets who spoke, along with readings by Smith and Clausen. Then children from both the 4-H Club and the town of Harpswell poured the soil around the tree roots.
“Then the tree was planted and a plaque was put there to commemorate the tree,” said Blackstone.
Sharon Kirker of Harpswell was one of the children present for the ceremony.
“I put in soil from Rhode Island,” said Kirker. “I think I was about 12. Someone commented that day was the biggest Arbor Day celebration in the history of the state.”
Blackstone said that cars lined the streets and the church parking lot, and that hundreds of people were thought to be in attendance.
Kirker said that the tree was rededicated by Smith sometime around 1990, but historical accounts of that Arbor Day celebration in 1959 were not brought to the Harpswell Historical Society until 2015, when Blackstone moved back to Maine and donated her late sister’s scrapbook of the event.
“My sister kept collections of all the news articles and personal stories leading up to that day, and when I returned to the Midcoast one of my first projects was to go straight to the historical society and return that scrapbook,” said Blackstone. “You can go there now and read all of the articles.”
Early this past April, Blackstone was invited to the Alaskan cedar tree by the Women’s Fellowship of the Elijah Kellogg Church to read a story she wrote based on her experience and her sister’s journal.
“I was pleased through this experience to see all of my old friends again and catch up with my former classmates,” said Blackstone. “I’d be happy to tell my story any time, any where.”
bgoodridge@timesrecord.com
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