Dubois, Olson honored at Arbor Day

NEBRASKA CITY - Sally Dubois, executive director of Keep Nebraska City Beautiful, is the 2023 Arbor Day honoree.

Jack Olson of New Tech Construction and Hidden Falls Cabins & RV Park is the tree planter of the year.

Mark McDonald, tree and water program specialist with the Nemaha NRD was also named tree planter of the year.

EDGE Nebraska City describes Dubois as a "super citizen" who has worked as a speech coach at Lourdes Central Catholic, headed up the school's fundraising efforts and has promoted literacy with the EDGE program.

She was a founding member of Keep Nebraska City Beautiful.

Olson has beautified the Hidden Falls property with new tree plantings. The 2020 Governor's Flood Hero recipient used the property as a supply distribution center during the flood of 2019.

The Arbor Day Committee describes McDonald as a passionate tree specialist who has managed crews that have collectively planted more than 1 million trees throughout southeast Nebraska.

Here is the NCTC press release

(Nebraska City, NE — April 17, 2023) — Nebraska City Tourism & Commerce’s Arbor Day Committee is pleased to announce the 2023 Arbor Day Honoree and Tree Planters of the Year.

Sally DuBois, Executive Director of Keep Nebraska City Beautiful, was selected as the 2023 Arbor Day Honoree. Jack Olson, owner of New Tech Construction and Hidden Falls Cabins & RV Park, was named as a Tree Planter of the Year. Mark McDonald, Tree & Water Program Specialist with the Nemaha Natural Resources District, was also named a Tree Planter of the Year.

“We were lucky to have so many nominations this year,” said NCTC Executive Director Amy Allgood. “Sally was the obvious choice for the Honoree and we wanted to recognize the work that Jack has done locally and that Mark has done throughout the area, so we decided to name both of them as Tree Planters.”

ARBOR DAY HONOREE – SALLY DUBOIS
Sally DuBois is a native Nebraska Citian. She graduated from NCHS and attended Peru State College, earning degrees in Language Arts, Journalism, and Secondary English Education. After her husband’s time in the Navy, DuBois and her family returned to Nebraska City. A self-proclaimed “lifelong volunteer”, DuBois has coached softball, served as a Girl Scout leader, and been a substitute teacher.

In the early 2000s, DuBois began working for Lourdes Central Catholic Schools as the Speech Coach and in Public Relations and Fundraising and was the main organizer of the Lourdes Event for over ten years.

Other community groups with which DuBois is involved include United Way, Beta Sigma Phi, PEO FV, Catholic Daughters, Friends of Arbor Lodge Foundation, and Leadership Nebraska City.

DuBois is also a Super Citizen with EDGE Nebraska City. EDGE founder Stacie Higgins said, “Our Super Citizens program has the focus of helping students build skills that connect them to their community so they are inspired to give back and make their community a great place to live, work, and play.
Sally is an integral part of that lesson. Her passion for literacy, community, and sustainability is contagious and the students leave feeling inspired.”

DuBois was a founding board member of Keep Nebraska City Beautiful and became the Executive Director in 2018. Under her leadership, KNCB has coordinated specialized recycling collection events, partnered with Westlake Ace Hardware and the Morton-James Public Library to create Litter Buckets that locals can check out, offered classes on how to repurpose old items into new ones, and started a Christmas lights recycling drive.

One nomination for DuBois noted: “her work with Keep Nebraska City Beautiful has mobilized dozens of Nebraska Citians to clean up our community not only prior to big events but year-round.”

Another nomination mentioned Keep Nebraska City Beautiful’s recent honor of receiving the President’s Circle Award from Keep America Beautiful at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

TREE PLANTER OF THE YEAR – JACK OLSON

Jack Olson is the owner of New Tech Construction in Nebraska City, but it is his work with the Hidden Falls Cabins & RV Park on Steinhart Park Road and Hidden Falls: The Camp Event Center on 4th Corso that sparked his nomination and recognition as Tree Planter of the Year for 2023.

Since purchasing the Hidden Falls properties, Olson has made the spaces into two beautiful pieces of land, removing dead and dying trees and planting new ones in their place. He takes pride in his property, keeping the grounds well-maintained for the locals and tourists who use it. Olson has also utilized his property to help others; during the flood of 2019, he turned the Event Center into a distribution center for water, cleaning supplies, diapers, and food – much of which was donated by his own company, New Tech Construction. He also waived rent for RV tenants effected by the flood and used his own plane to ship supplies and water to Hamburg. In 2020, Olson received the Governor’s Flood Hero award from Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts for his efforts.

TREE PLANTER OF THE YEAR – MARK MCDONLAD

The Arbor Day Committee is also choosing to recognize Mark McDonald as a Tree Planter of the Year for 2023. McDonald is a tree specialist with the Nemaha NRD.
In a career that spans more than four decades, McDonald has helped with designing tree plans, preparing sites, and managing crews that have collectively planted more than one million trees throughout southeast Nebraska.
McDonald also takes it upon himself to search out and transplant saplings to more favorable locations, including hand-digging a row of Eastern Red Cedar trees from his own property to that of the current Nemaha NRD headquarters to form a needed windbreak.

A Commemorative Tree Planting to recognize Sally DuBois as the 2023 Arbor Day Honoree and Jack Olson and Mark McDonald as the 2023 Tree Planters of the Year will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 28, at Hidden Falls Cabins & RV Park at 6124 Steinhart Park Road. A reception hosted by The Friends of Arbor Lodge Foundation will follow the plantings.

Details on all weekend activities scheduled throughout the community can be found at NebraskaCity.com/festival/arbor-day.