© 2024 WNMU-FM
Upper Great Lakes News, Music, and Arts & Culture
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Hiawatha donating dozens of trees to NMU

MARQUETTE, MI--   The Hiawatha Music Co-op is celebrating 40 years of its festival by planting trees at Northern Michigan University.

On April 28 40 native trees and shrubs will be placed in Northern’s Outdoor Learning Areas. The effort is the brainchild of Doug Kitchel, who has served on the Hiawatha Board of Directors for the past six years. He says the university has been kind to the festival, letting people park at the Jacobetti Center and the Public Safety and Central Receiving lots. Kitchel says donating 40 trees to the school seemed to be a good way to say “thank you” for NMU’s collaboration and support.

The trees and shrubs will be purchased from the Marquette County Conservation District and planted in outdoor learning areas so students can learn about the Native American heritage of the region. They’ll include the American sweet crab apple, elderberry, plum, and hazelnut.

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.