NEBRASKA CITY – Rob Schreiner joked about his reluctance to climb trees professionally when he started out with a trimming company nearly 40 years ago, but told his commemorative tree planting audience during the Arbor Day Celebration that he feels lucky to have grown up in the Home of Arbor Day.

Schreiner: “My dad, when I was young, pulled a tree out of the riverbank, down at the Missouri River, and planted it in the backyard. I climbed that as a little kid, grew up with the tree. Actually had to take it down about 10 years ago. It was getting to where it needed to come down,  but I grew up in that tree. Being the home of Arbor Day and working around trees is pretty exciting.”

Schreiner started with the Nebraska City Utilities in 1998 and is currently a tree clearance foreman. He has served on the Nebraska City Tree Board for 26 years and was named arborist of the year by the Nebraska Arborist Association in 2013.

He said the care of the urban forest helps him sleep at night.

Schreiner: “The utilities send me to all the conferences to learn about trees, how to trim. I’m really proud when we have all these storms that I get to stay home and sleep because the trees are lasting longer because we trim them a little bit better than what we used to.”

 

As a member of the tree board, Schreiner helped establish the south entrance gateway and provided a tree inventory to the city. Currently, the board is working with the city for plantings at the new housing development and city entrances.

Schreiner: “Sustainability is a big word. We have a lot of trees here and I like what we have, so I like to take care of it what we have. We like to plant and replace some of the older trees because all good things come to an end and some trees just have to come down, but I like when we replace them and I like to take care of what we have. The forefathers have thought hard about planting these trees so we take care of them and the city is wanting to put trees back in, so it’s awesome.”

Schreiner is a former instructor for the Nebraska Arboretum in the area of pruning and climbing. He is currently chief of the Nebraska City Fire and Rescue.

 

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