The public is invited to the Johnny Appleseed Society and Johnny Appleseed Foundation Earth Day Celebration and Memorial Tree Planting at the site of The Johnny Appleseed Educational Center and Museum on Saturday, April 23 (the day after Earth Day) from 10 a.m. to noon.

Rain date is Sunday, April 24 from 2-4 p.m.

The museum is located at 518 College Way in Urbana.

This event will provide an opportunity to catch up on what’s happening at The Johnny Appleseed Educational Center and Museum and enjoy the festivities as well as light refreshments.

Members of the JA Foundation and JA Society will plant a small apple orchard. The trees to be planted in the orchard are directly descended from trees planted by John Chapman, Johnny Appleseed, himself, almost 200 years ago. The orchard is adjacent to a soon-to-be Children’s Garden that will be in its initial stage of development.

In addition to recognizing our many volunteers, several of the trees will be dedicated to the memories of people who made outstanding contributions to the work of the museum, including Ann Corfman, Renee Besecker and Walter Reiner.

As Dick Sommer, president of the Johnny Appleseed Society has noted, “This celebration is the beginning of bringing the museum back to life. There is still a lot of work to be done, and the good news is a great number of people are working together to make the new museum a reality.”

“When the museum reopens, in the late autumn of this year, the children’s garden will be an enjoyable space for the many school children the museum looks forward to hosting,” said Marlen Mathias, vice president, Johnny Appleseed Foundation and a descendent of the Chapman family. “And, a few years from now, we will be enjoying apples from these trees.”