Spruce Up Austin, Inc. is planning a major tree planting project along Maschka Parkway at Riverland Community College.

The project will take place Saturday, Sept. 27, according to Mike Ruzek, SUA, Inc. project leader.

Plans call for 19 trees to be planted along a sidewalk leading to baseball and softball fields.

The Maschka Parkway honors the memory of Dennis L. Maschka, the popular Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department director, who died this summer.

The Maschka family has a memorial tree planted in honor of their loved one at the entrance to the RCC ball diamonds and walkway.

According to Ruzek, a team of volunteers from Cornerstone Assembly of God Church will assist.

The trees will be purchased from Dolan’s Nursery, Austin.

Also, the SUA, Inc. directors agreed at their Thursday morning meeting to conduct a major maintenance project Sept. 27.

The organization’s volunteers will apply plastic rings around all the trees it has planted in public areas.

The Austin PRF is assisting by furnishing the plastic rings.

It is hoped the 6-inch tall rings will protect trees from mowing mishaps and protect their health and ensure their maturity, according to Ruzek.

A prime target of the maintenance project, which will be organized by James Larson, will be the 150 trees planted in 20206 to commemorate the city’s sesquicentennial.

Belle trip

Also Thursday morning, the organization agreed to conduct an inspection of the Horace Austin Park tree plantings in recent years.

They will do it by boat and rent the Spamtown Belle riverboat for the tour.

According to Ruzek, the boat can accommodate 20 people.

SUA, Inc. planted 100 trees in honor of the Hormel Foods Corporation’s centennial in 1991.

Since that project, hundreds of other trees have been planted in Horace Austin Park, including many along the Mill Pond Pathway.

In addition, there have been dozens of other memorial tree plantings and others, such as the Millennium Maple and one honoring the victims of the Oklahoma City, Okla. bombing in 1995.

The inspection trip by boat will be, in part, to assess the trees from the Cedar River viewpoint and determine what maintenance needs doing.

In addition, the SUA, Inc. directors will examine Bird Island.

The Spamtown Belle trip will be scheduled in September.