The Sedona-Oak Creek Canyon Lions Club celebrated Earth Day 2024 on April 22 in conjunction with the city of Sedona Parks and Recreation Department, by planting an Arkansas Black apple tree at Ranger Station Park on Brewer Road along with a commemorative plaque.
“My favorite part of the event was putting the plant in the ground,” Sedona Oak Creek Canyon Lions Club president Effie Roszko-Tagliarini said. “Because it’s going to be there forever and it will provide fruits for the community. And since that’s a park, and it’s new, and there’s a playground, so when the kids are tired and hungry, they can go to the tree and pick some fruit.”
This is the third apple tree planted next to the historic Ranger Station and Parks and Recreation Manger Josh Frewin said that “maybe a few additional trees could be planted there. It probably will not be [a] full orchard, but at least a few so they can cross-pollinate.”
“[The apple trees] keep that historical aspect to the way the Ranger Station used to be way back in the day,” Frewin said, noting that apple trees were previously planted at the site when it was used by the U.S. Forest Service. “It’s also a cool opportunity to have some fruit trees right in front of the house that people can go and pick a few apples when they come to the park because it’s such a great place to bring the family.”
Frewin explained that the Lions Club donated $300 to pay for the tree and its associated plaque.
“Some people prefer it to be a mixing apple, but they taste pretty good right off the tree as well,” Slide Rock State Park Manager Blake Hourigan said of the natural history of the Arkansas Black, which also grows in Oak Creek Canyon. “Most of our apples are ready [for harvest] as early as August … But the Arkansas Black isn’t fully ripe usually until late October, sometimes even midway through November.”
“A lot of the general landscaping is wrapping up here this week,” Frewin said on the buildout of the park. “The adult fitness station, and then some of those initial slides are being shipped at the beginning of May … so it’s coming along quickly.”
