Over the last couple of years, approximately 114 trees at the Marcus Golf Club have died due to life span and Ash Borer disease. Most of the expired trees have been cut down and new, bare root trees or transplanted trees have taken their place. The majority of the trees have been donated by Lenny, Angie and Andrea Dorr in memory of their brother Kip. Other donations are from John and Carla Weber, Tom and Shari Lehnhoff/Keith and Paula Ebert (in memory of Jack Clarkson) Shawn and Barb Brady/Tom and Shari Lehnhoff (in memory of Alice Wittkop), John and Pat Sand, Jeff’s Foods, Kenny and Laura Letsche, Dave and Sheila Guntren, Kirby and Julee Hohbach, Mike Mayer, Bruce and Denae Dreckman, Ben and Mandy Erdman and Angie Dorr/Sally (Alesch) Oltmanns/Dawn (Stowater) Dunn/Sheila Guntren (in memory of Jim Hoefling).
Several community members came out to help with the planting of the trees and to perform a general clean up of the Golf Course. The holes were dug, trees were planted, watered, staked and banded, and mulch was spread around each to ensure a good start for the trees. By the end of the first season, these trees are expected to have approximately 30% of their leaf coverage, by end of year two they should have 60% coverage and 90% to 100% leaf coverage by the end of their third season. Species planted include Blue Spruce Evergreens, Red Oak, Greenspire Linden, Triumph Elm, Autumn Blaze Maple, Emerald Queen Maple, Autumn Radiance Maple and Green Mountain Maple. The bare root trees were purchased from Rhuland Nursery in Le Mars, IA. Transplanted trees were moved by Bruschmann Tree Spading in Cleghorn, IA.