NEBRASKA CITY-  The 2025 Arbor Day honorees rejoice over the ‘home of Arbor Day.’

The Nebraska City Chamber of Commerce used to have three couples on its Arbor Day committee and they rotated out after chairing the event in their third year. Marshall’s dad, Dean, chaired the annual celebration in 1980 and it was his turn 17 years later.

Marshall: “The year we volunteered to be on the committee, we still had three years. We didn’t realize it would be the 125th anniversary. It was like, ‘oh my gosh, what are we going to do now? Because we had to make it really special.”

They also served on Gov. Ben Nelson’s statewide committee and had a role in getting “Home of Arbor Day” printed on welcome signs at the entrances of the state.

Marshall: “That came out of that committee meeting we were at the governor’s mansion back in 1997.”

The couple says Arbor Day has always been important to them, whether it’s walking the paths at Arbor Lodge or enjoying the stories that trees have to tell.

 

Carol Marshall is among the estimated 45,000 children who received a tree seedling at an Arbor Day program over the celebration’s history.

She attended country school and came into Nebraska City for the event. Her seedling was planted on the family farm.

Dennis shared an Arbor Day miracle about a seedling that was forgot in the garage for a year.

Marshall: “Believe it or not it sat in our garage for a year. We realized it was there, so we took it out planted it – it was still alive – We thought is it going to make it? To this day, it’s still doing great.”

Three brandywine red maples were planted on the west side of the Steinhart Lodge parking lot in honor of the Marshalls.

The couple was recognized for their volunteer contributions to Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce and the Nebraska City Volunteer Fire Department, as well as their service at Marshall Funeral Chapel.