Tree Commission Planted Magnolias, TOSRV Returns to Yoctangee Park, and Big Puddle Gone
Chillicothe — Today is Arbor Day, and Chillicothe school children will celebrate it in Yoctangee Park. The city’s Tree Commission continues their work to add new trees and manage existing ones, and a revived TOSRV will use Yoctangee as a hub in May.
I asked the Bill Bonner, director of the Chillicothe Parks & Recreation Department, about trees recently. He was part of the Tree Commission meeting on April 15th (as unfortunate major news was developing that day).
I had seen a row of magnolias newly planted between the former school ballfield and Back Road, near the recreation trail, and asked about them.
Bonner said as they were planting a memorial tree for former Chillicothe Schools teacher and superintendent Roger Crago at the end of March, they considered the location for nine magnolias they had left.
Bonner pointed out that other magnolias were planted four or five years ago on Church Street and elsewhere.
He said the Tree Commission has planted 91 trees this fiscal year, with 25 more scheduled before May. The award-winning commission has authority over trees on city property and in public right-of-ways.
As for the city’s annual Arbor Day event, Bonner said about 200 fourth graders in the city school sytem will go through different stations in Yoctangee Park to learn about trees and planting them.
He said the tree care company Asplundh will remove a dying large tree behind the bandstand as demonstration…which he said the kids always love.
A revived TOSRV will have Chillicothe’s Yoctangee Park as a hub in a different format from previous years of the Columbus-to-Portsmouth trek. Bonner said the 2025 Tour of the Scioto River Valley will be like GOBA (the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure) from several years ago, with several radiating routes. TOSRV is also returning to its traditional mid-May weekend.
See our stories on that: “TOSRV Gears Up for 64th Anniversary Ride with New Routes, Festival Format” and “Spring Ross County Tourism Events Lined Up.”
And, you may have also seen construction along the parking lot for the baseball diamond and basketball courts at the start of Back Road in Yoctangee Park. Bonner said the huge puddle there was a pet peeve of Mayor Luke Feeney, so the city has fixed the drainage problem. (See snapshots below.)
You can learn more about the Chillicothe Parks & Recreation Department on the city’s website. The department has a page on the Tree Commission, which also has its own page.
Hear Bonner in his own words in the below video interview.
Construction nearing completion on April 21st for the parking lot for the baseball diamond and basketball courts on Back Road in Chillicothe’s Yoctangee Park:
