Bridging the gap between being the company that emits carbon dioxide into the air and helping add oxygen back in, Aquila's Power of Trees program brought 60 new trees to Maryville parks Wednesday.
More than 38 Maryville High School student volunteers, MPR staff and Aquila employees planted the trees in the Donaldson, Sisson-Eek, Sunrise, Happy Hallow, Judah and Robinson-Christ parks. The 60 trees included 40 different species. Four of the 60 trees were unable to be planted Wednesday because of wet ground in one of the Maryville parks.
According to information from Al Butkus, the vice president for corporate communication at Aquila, trees help purify the air by absorbing pollutants from fossil fuels and offsetting the effects of greenhouse gases.
“Trees are one way to ward off global warning,” Butkus said. “One tree can produce enough oxygen for one adult.
“As a utility provider, the community expects us to bring something back to the people. We produce electricity, we produce carbon dioxide — so we're part of the problem. This is our way of correcting part of that.” 
Not only did Maryville lose numerous trees within its parks as a result of December's ice storm, but Donaldson Westside Park on Country Club Road hasn’t had many trees. The Power of Trees program allowed Aquila and Maryville Parks and Recreation to designate 31 of those trees to be planted at Donaldson.
Jessie Ridenour, construction coordinator for Maryville’s Aquila station, together with other Aquila representatives and MPR staff members, discussed the number and type of trees to be planted in Maryville.
The Power of Trees program, he said, was a way to give back to the community.
“In its lifetime, the average tree will consume a ton of carbon dioxide and covert it to life-sustaining oxygen in the process,” he said. “As the local provider for electricity, we feel we have a responsibility to be responsive to the general concerns of the communities we serve. This program enables us to do it while at the same time working together with other community members.”
W.R. O'Riley, with the Maryville Pride Lions Club, pre-dug 56 holes for the trees Tuesday.
“We really appreciate what he did for us, it saved us a lot of work today,” Ridenour said.
Mike Hurst, the operations supervisor at St. Joseph's Aquila plant, gave the volunteers a quick tutorial on how to properly plant a tree Wednesday afternoon before the volunteers were split into several groups and dispersed in three different parks.
Hurst said he helped with the program last year, and previous work clearing lines for St. Joe Light and Power has given him more knowledge on trees.
Hurst is International Society of Arboriculture certified, is involved in the Missouri Community Forestry Council and the Forestry Relief of Northwest Missouri.
Aquila’s Power of Trees program will provide 500 total trees in a five-state area, Butkus said.
Currently, Aquila is exploring the use of bio-diesel for generating electricity where possible and assisting individual customers and commercial businesses with solar and wind alternatives to help offset the cost of power and reduce greenhouse gases.
For information on Aquila, visit their Web site at www.aquila.com.