Triway Memorial Tree program takes root with dedication ceremony

About 55 years ago, the Class of 1969 gave its alma mater something special with the gift of planting crabapple trees on the Triway High School premises.

With the construction of the new school, those trees were taken out, but that didn’t deter the class.

On Saturday, Oct. 4, the class honored the school’s first board members and others with the Triway Memorial Tree Dedication Ceremony, which officially kick-started the Triway Memorial Tree program.

“On behalf of our staff here and our current board members, one of the first things we wanted to do when we built the new school was to make sure that we honored the history,” Triway Superintendent Nate Schindewolf said.

That process began with the planting of crabapple trees in honor of the school district’s founding original board members, but thanks to Rick Rottman, member of the THS Class of 1969, and others, the program quickly took flight and soared to a whole new level to include the planting of crabapple trees for anyone who wants to honor a loved one.

The trees honoring the original five board members, three early board members and another key community figure include original board members Weldon Mohr, George and Ruth Leeper, Albert Wyss, Doyle “Hank” McClaran, and Hank Miller; early board members William Uher, Robert Iceman and Gordie Kaufman; and Charlene Payne, close friend of the Miller family.

Schindewolf said Rottman has poured his heart into the project, which has since seen more crabapple trees planted around the school, raising that number to 24, with the nine board member trees planted beside the school and another 15 planted in honor of others on the southwest side of the school.

According to Rottman, there is ample space to welcome a whole lot more trees to the THS crabapple tree family.

“This is a special deal for the Triway community,” Rottman said of the dedication ceremony that was attended by former board members or family representatives. “It’s been a long time since any of these board members have been thanked, so we start with a big thank-you.”

During the ceremony each board member or representative was presented with a framed 8-by-10 photo of the original groundbreaking for the high school, a photo which featured each of the original board members.

According to Rottman, his class was honored to be able to plant the former trees along the driveway that led to the old high school. He said when the decision was made to build a K-12 school next to the old high school, the landscape had to be altered, and part of that process was taking down the trees.

“We felt that planting memorial trees was a good idea back in 1969, and we felt it would be appropriate to do it again, so we created this program so that we could honor our first board members as well as a whole lot of other folks who have made an impact on this school district,” Rottman said. “We have opened this up to anyone who would like to honor a spouse, parents, grandchildren, classmates, teachers or even their dog. The main thing is people can take some ownership in the campus and Triway’s new facility while adding to the beautification of the property that will last forever.”

Rottman said the push now is to invite others to invest in donating trees so they can get even more planted this fall. He said they would love to see another 40-50 trees planted prior to this winter.

Each donated crabapple tree will include a special engraved plaque designed to honor the donor and the individual or family honored by the tree. Rottman said they are planting the trees in groups of three to honor the school’s historic name of Triway’s combined three schools of Shreve, Franklin and Wooster Township, with each grouping including flowering trees of pink, white and red blossoms.

“Our hope is that we plant so many trees that it becomes the next OARDC for crabapple trees,” Rottman said. “I believe we are going to do that. I see these trees blending together, just like we saw when our three schools blended together so well.”

Anne McDowell and Jennie Bishko have been instrumental in the planning and design process and said it is exciting to see the traditions and dedication to the school continuing.

Anyone with questions may call Rottman at 330-465-6349, or trees can be ordered by simply scanning the QR code accompanying this story.