News-Press Online - Arbor Day Celebration

The Nebraska City Ministerial Association said all are welcome to come to Arbor Lodge State Park to celebrate the eternal and universal concept of peace at the Prayers for Peace program at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28.
Six years ago, the Ministerial Association planted a peace tree at Arbor Lodge State Park. The tree, a dogwood, serves as a symbol of peace.
The four-petal white blossoms of the tree are meant to symbolize the peace of Jesus Christ.
Each petal is white with red on the tip. The white is meant to symbolize the purity of Christ, while the red is meant to symbolize the blood Christ shed to free man from sin.
The peace tree tradition dates back over 1,000 years to the formation of the Iroquois Confederation Council.
Prior to the formation of the council, the ancient peace tradition broke down, leading to a great series of wars. According to the Iroquois, a man named Degan Ewida, known to the Iroquois as the Peacemaker, taught Hiawatha, an Iroquois man who had lost his family in war, to forgive those who had wronged him and celebrate peace.
Hiawatha spread that belief to other tribes.
The sharing led to the formation of the Iroquois Confederation Council, the oldest example of democracy and the model for the system we enjoy today.
To honor peace, the Iroquois people buried their weapons of war and planted a tree on top of those weapons to symbolize peace.
In 1893, Mohawk Chief Jack Swamp revived that practice of peace by initiating the tree of peace society.
Six years ago, Tom Scherer of the Community Church of Christ and Ruth Rawlings read about what Swamp did and thought it would be a good idea for Nebraska City.
Scherer took the peace tree idea to the Ministerial Association which then went forward with the selection and planting of a peace tree here.
Since then, each Arbor Day, the Ministerial Association conducts a prayers for peace service on the site of the peace tree in Arbor Lodge State Park. It is in the northeast corner of the park near the walking bridge on Lilac Trail.