13 colorful watering cans were lined up on the bathing meadow on Birkenweg in Steinebach on Thursday evening - one for each tree sponsor.
They symbolically watered the young trees they had donated and celebrated the “tree sponsorship festival”, which was repeatedly postponed by the pandemic, with brass music.
Steinebach - It was last November when the Rotary Club Wörthsee donated a seven meter high white elm. This is now on the bathing lawn in close proximity to the lake and provides shade for the first visitors. This was the trigger for the community to plant 16 more trees in April - each donated by a Wörthsee sponsor. "There used to be a lot of beautiful trees in the meadow," said environmental officer Barbara König. “They have disappeared over time.” One reason for this is the death of ash shoots, a serious tree disease caused by a fungus introduced from East Asia. In 2020, the ash trees on the bathing meadow on Birkenweg had to be felled. Now in their place are four young, strong oaks about three meters high.
“We also planted a red beech, seven birch trees and four wild cherries all over the meadow,” says König. The young trees come from the Wörlein tree nursery in Pähl, have a trunk diameter of 16 to 22 centimeters and are around three meters high. “After the elm from the Rotary Club, we announced that there will soon be the opportunity to sponsor your own tree,” said König. “Immediately all 16 sponsorships were gone. Even now we are still getting inquiries as to whether there are free trees. ”In April, the landscaping company Aumiller from Wörthsee planted the trees together with the Reidl gardening company. Now they stand proud, with water bags and bamboo mats protected, on the bathing property.
“I thank everyone,” said Mayor Christel Muggenthal. “We will be able to enjoy the trees for a long time to come.” At the opening, the 14-strong youth gang from the Wörthsee brass band played a few pieces, followed by the symbolic watering action.
The tree sponsors include Dirk and Bärbel Marsen (79). The two have adopted one of the oaks. “The trees are important because there is so little shade here in the meadow,” they said. Ten-year-old Franzi, godmother of a birch tree, was especially happy to take part. She is very fond of trees and is proud of her godparent tree, she explained. The same applies to the three members of the band "Kreiz, Birnbam & Hollerstaudn". Long-time friends Peter Guntz (54), Max Buchsteiner (32) and Tobi Gabler (30) founded their rock and folk music band in 2019. In April they decided to sponsor a wild cherry. “We are a Gaudi trio,” says Tobi Gabler. "The cherry goes well with us."
He and his bandmates played a few serenades in front of their godfather tree on guitar, baritone and squeeze.
"So if we lie down somewhere in the future, it will be in the shadow of this cherry," said Guntz.
"And every now and then we'll open our mouths and eat a cherry."
Vanessa Lange