It was heartwarming to see the elementary kids out helping plant trees at the High School this morning. Kudos to Karen Shuman, School Superintendent, and Kevin Danti, Town Manager, for leading the effort with shovels in hand. Jud Dillon would be proud!
The property has a history with my family, as it was formerly part of my Great Grandpa Russell Easterday’s farm. When I was 7 or 8, I remember riding my bike to the end of Slate Street to give treats of carrots to the members of Grandpa Easterday’s herd of white-faced Hereford cattle that were brave enough to come see me at the fence. At one time, the Easterday farm extended all of the way down to Easterday Construction. Before the office building was built in the 50’s, there were cattle barns and the red barn on the property was known as the pony barn where grandpa kept horses. Russell and Wanda Easterday lived in the brick house on the west side of the north end of Ohio Street.
Arthur Judson “Jud” Dillon and Grandpa Easterday were friends. Like my grandfather, Jud was a farmer that moved on from farming to better support is family. In both cases they became teachers. Grandpa moved on to construction while Jud moved from teacher to guidance counselor to High School Principal. Jud’s farm surrounded the intersection of 10 & 17 at the entrance to Culver from the north. If you look up old deeds in that area, you’ll see that the town lots in that area are part of the Dillon Addition.
When the high school was built, there were few, if any, trees in the pasture. All of the older trees you see around the high school were planted by Jud. Since the high school was built in 1969, and the first Earth Day was in 1970, it’s hard to say if those trees were tied to Earth Day or not. As Jud’s son, Gary, relates it (Stories and Stones ’25, 17 min mark), Jud had an affinity for trees and was responsible for planting them all around Culver while Gary was responsible for watering them.
It’s nice to see the legacy continue. The school property definitely needs a few more trees!
Happy Earth Day!