CVC tree planting a tribute to Hooker family's 17,000 over 10 years

TREE PLANTING: Charles Hooker (right), of East Garafraxa, received a grant from the Credit Valley Conservation Society on October 1, for his efforts in planting 17,000 trees in the last 10 years. Pictured with him are (left) East Garafraxa Mayor Allen Taylor and Brian Boyd, a CVC forest technician. Photo/TOM CLARIDGE Charles (Chuck) Hooker is probably Dufferin County's most prolific tree planter, and on Monday, Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) employees went to Mr. Hooker's home and returned the favour, planting 142 trees on his 48-acre farm on the 19th Line of East Garafraxa.

The trees, of varying sizes and many different varieties, were planted in recognition of the 17,000 trees he and his family have planted over this last decade.

Along with the CVC employees who came to his home, East Garafraxa Mayor Allen Taylor was on hand to pose for a picture an acknowledged Mr. Hooker's efforts in the reforestation field.

Mr. Hooker, who came with his wife to the township 11 years ago, says he has planted many different varieties, including white oak, red oak, burr oak, and tin oak, English walnut, butternut, white ash and green ash, as well as American elm.

Mr. Hooker poses with chestnut burrs he found at Island Lake Conservation Area Mr. Hooker said that when they moved to the farm, only eight acres was a woodlot of white birch and a few other types.

He plants about 400 trees a year by hand, and says if you have the right equipment it only takes between one and two minutes to plant a seeding.

Among the seedlings was black walnut and American chestnut, both of which he has planted from nuts. He gets his trees from Forest Care, Summerville Seedling, Grand River Conservation Society, as well as from East Garafraxa.

Last week, he went to the Island Lake Conservation Area where he collected chestnut burrs which he hopes to turn into seedlings next spring.

He accomplishes the feat by placing the chestnuts in a bag with peat moss and placing the bag in a refrigerator for the winter months.

In the early spring, any chestnuts that have sprouted will be placed in earth-filled coffee cups and left on window sills where they will get lots of sunlight. Those that become seedlings will be planted later in the spring.

Mr. Hooker says his wife Cynthia and his two daughters, Claire and Catherine, have helped him plant the trees in early April or May.

The Hooker farm, through which a tributary to Shaw's Creek - itself a tributary to the Credit River - flows, currently has trees on all but eight acres.

After a 35-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces during which he served in Germany and the state of Georgia but "never fired a shot at anyone," Mr. Hooker retired in 1990 with the rank of major, and spent the next six years working for an Ottawa firm.

He says the decision to settle in East Garafraxa stemmed from tiring of having to travel along Highway 401 from Ottawa to visit relatives who had all chosen to live in Southwestern Ontario.

Zoltan Kovacs, a Credit Valley Conservation forester, said that he would like to see more people in the Orangeville and East Garafraxa area participating in the tree-planting program.

If you would like to participate, contact Mr. Kovacs at (905) 702-5201 or write to Terra Cotta Conservation Area, 14451 Winston Churchill Blvd., Halton Hills, ON.