COMMENTARY: History Of Maples Teaches Lesson

By Leeanna Walker

Posted: November 1, 2009 at 2:06 a.m.

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ROGERS — We don’t have windows in our Rogers office.

That’s the result of a mid-’80s remodel and expansion. Apparently, it was all the rage then not to include windows in a building.

Why no windows? Maybe the theory was that employees were less productive if they had a window to look out. I think they may have thought it made it easier to control the inside temperature.

Since then, the trend is to include windows. They let in natural light, which can reduce energy bills, and apparently they have decided a lack of windows can drive people bonkers.

That explains so much about us.

As a result of our windowless space, we often stop and stare out the door. From our door, we have great view of the Rogers Historical Museum and its colorful maples.

I may not be much of a fall fan - those 30-degree swings in temperature in a few short hours hurt - but I do appreciate the colorful trees.

I have beautiful maples in my yard and love the one on Fourth Street south of Walnut Street that is the most gorgeous shade of red I have ever seen.

What brings all of this to mind is a call from Big Bob. Apparently the colorful autumn leaves send him off into reveries, too.

His call last week was about a story he heard about how many of these beautiful maples ended up in Rogers - particularly the ones in Rogers Cemetery along Eighth Street. He said someone once told him the trees were planted by a man who came through town 40 or 50 years ago. The person who told him lived here then and witnessed the event.

Call him Johnny Maple Seed.

Thinking back, I, too, had heard the story; but it had faded from memory.

Wondering about the truth, I checked with Gaye Bland, Rogers Historical Museum director.

Gaye’s family has deep ties to the area and she is a good source to go to when checking out stories.

Gaye told me that she didn’t know if a Johnny Maple Seed had made a visit to Rogers. She said some of the maples were planted as a result of a Rogers Garden Club initiative in the 1940s or 1950s.

Gaye said she thinks Vera Key was president of the club when the project took place.

If you don’t know much about the history of Rogers then you probably have never heard of Vera Key. A few years back - after her death - her name was in the news a lot because of her house, which was at Third and Walnut streets.

A lot of people thought the museum should take the house and preserve it. Unfortunately, the structure was in pretty bad shape and there was no money to make it usable as a public facility.

Key was born at War Eagle in 1893, according to information from the museum. She graduated from Rogers Public Schools in 1908 and trained as a nurse.

Following a stint in the Army Nurses Corps in France during World War I, she returned to Rogers where she was one of the founders of the Benton County Historical Society and served as the first chairperson of the Rogers Historical Museum Commission.

It’s nice that Ms. Key returned home with a sense of civic duty.

Can you imagine the city without the beautiful maples?

We can all learn a lesson from Vera Key and find a passion that will help improve our community.

LEEANNA WALKER IS EDITOR OF THE ROGERS MORNING NEWS.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 11/01/2009

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