NEBRASKA CITY – This year’s Arbor Day honoree provided the talent for the Arbor Day premiere of the play “Trees – A Joy Forever” in 1985.

 

The play was written by Virginia Ott, the elementary school librarian and former Nebraska City News-Press reporter Sue Kneale. It was performed for the first time by fifth grade students from Hayward Elementary under teacher and 2024 honoree Sue Little at Nuckolls Square.

In the play, J. Sterling Morton was played by a statue that comes to life when he hears children talking about Arbor Day. Students played Caroline Morton at ages 14, as young mother and age 40. They also played men from the horticulture society as well as Morton children Joy, Paul, Mark and Carl.

 

The play addresses how J. Sterling met Caroline, about traveling to the Nebraska Territory and planting 800 trees on the first Arbor Day.

Little moved to Nebraska City in 1979 to teach third grade at Northside. After two days at Northside the district moved her to Hayward to teach second grade because of uneven student numbers.  She taught fifth graders for 25 years and was the language arts teacher for sixth graders at the middle school for 13 years.

She grew up with a tree planting father and planted her first tree in Nebraska City from Arbor Day children's program seedling in 1985, the same year as the play.

 

She is a TeamMate, church volunteer and delivers Meals on Wheels.

She has remained active in retirement as a volunteer for EDGE Nebraska City, where she implemented the super citizens program.

A Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce press release says Little was nominated as one who has developed a culture of literacy and community.