For over 60 years the Great Bend Noon Lions Club has been taking care of the center divide of redbud trees along Broadway Avenue. The last winter storm in Great Bend was very harsh on trees. The Noon Lions have been evaluating the conditions of the trees on Broadway, and have found 16 of them to be damaged beyond repair. President Steve Goetz, Secretary Laverne Lessor, Project Chairman Don Halbower and other members of the club had decided to remove the damaged trees and replace them with healthy new saplings. Great Bend’s Sutherlands home improvement store gave them a discount on the trees, since it was for a worthy cause for the city of Great Bend. Noon Lions would like to thank them for doing that.
The tree replacements were done Wednesday evening, April 26. There was a little bit of traffic held up, getting around the members doing their work, though it was well worth the inconvenience. The club wanted to get the new saplings put in the ground before any possible rains could hold them up in the forecast. Just another community service that the Lions Organization is doing to improve life in the Great Bend area, Goetz said.