The Brenton Arboretum: A Personal Story

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I feel a need to briefly describe the evolutionary process involved in bringing about a public institution — in this case an arboretum — if ever so humble. It would never have happened without the encouragement and guidance of my wife, Sue. As I think back over my life, I value this experience most highly, for it has given me an opportunity to learn, grow, be of service and use, and (selfishly) be able to spend my days doing what I like best: being out of doors with my dog, walking the land, and helping out with the work. There is no other activity I can think of which gives me such satisfaction daily, year round. The seasons energize me. Being in the elements both soothes and sensitizes me. The sense of what is going on out there has given me a second, very real life right along with my more conventional life. I have lived in two worlds, separate but joined, dependent on each other. Boredom, which has always been a shadow in the corner for me, has been pretty well kept at bay. But the real value here is what this arboretum can do for others. It is nothing without this. That lives on. From time to time I receive comments from visitors about having more features or attractions or things to do. This, I remind myself, is not that sort of a place to any great extent, not up to now anyway. This is a place for being outside with majestic growing life all around and the opportunity to contemplate the symbiotic relationship between man and nature, without which man often stumbles and loses his way. This is probably more true for all of us as we become increasingly urbanized. Perhaps we have aided these processes a bit here at the Brenton Arboretum. I have been very fortunate! Sue and Buz Brenton at the Arboretum, June 2016. 9
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Page 7: View to the west from the cottonwoo
Page 11 and 12: I should make one thing clear befor
Page 13 and 14: species, they became acquaintances,
Page 15 and 16: Aerial and satellite photos of Bren
Page 17 and 18: After becoming quite familiar with
Page 19 and 20: I told them about my idea of taking
Page 21 and 22: idea of individual clusters of simi
Page 23 and 24: farm west of the city. While not di
Page 25 and 26: Thanks to the Bickelhaupts and many
Page 27 and 28: een his world at the Morton Arboret
Page 29 and 30: I had one piece of the puzzle in pl
Page 31 and 32: The chief purpose of the arboretum
Page 33 and 34: a small water pump. The tank and pu
Page 35 and 36: Spring was in bloom, but there was
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Page 39 and 40: Planting day was near. Now I needed
Page 41 and 42: We built a road through the arboret
Page 43 and 44: three of us decided to use the smal
Page 45 and 46: The year began with a bang. We were
Page 47 and 48: On July 28, 1998, The Brenton Arbor
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Page 53 and 54: In August, we printed our first gen
Page 55 and 56: Late in 2000, Crow Construction Com
Page 57 and 58: It would have been disappointing to
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We formally dedicated the arboretum
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Riordan as our lead, we reached out
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As noted earlier, we knew the very
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The next four years would lead the
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helped. But how much should we be c
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By the end of 2006, the arboretum w
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When I started this history, I thou
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Our special collections were becomi
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The Vista Room offers sweeping view
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1995 Winter: Buz first considers th
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I want to thank my dear friend Meli
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The Brenton Arboretum: A Personal Story

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