65 trees for 65 years

The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago; the second best time to do so is today. And if you manage to keep your business going and growing for 65 years, then you have good reason to plant a lot of trees. In celebration of the company's 65th anniversary, employees of effect pigment supplier Silberline (Tamaqua, PA) planted trees in parks near its facilities in Pennsylvania, Scotland, Singapore and China, and provided funds for ecology education. The photo shows Lisa Jane Scheller, president and CEO at Silberline, planting one of 65 sugar maples with a Little League baseball player at the Mary-D Fire Company Sports Complex near her company's headquarters.

Ernest Scheller Sr. founded the company in 1965. Lisa Jane Scheller, with director global automotive marketing Tony Reed and company staffers, lined the Mary-D Fire Company Sports Complex (Mary-D, PA) with 65 sugar maple trees, getting assistance from the Schuylkill Conservation District, Schuylkill Township and a team of Little Leaguers who play baseball on the field. Silberline pilot plant technician Matthew Rudy had spearheaded the procurement and reclamation of the land and its development as a sports complex.

At three, coordinated events in Scotland, Lord-Lieutenant of Fife Margaret Dean, the official representative of Queen Elizabeth, joined local officials and staff in a silver birch tree planting at the company's Leven facility. Managing director Fraser Phillips, global director of marketing - inks Andrew Edwards, human resources director Kay Wilson and staff and students from three nearby schools planted 65 more silver birch trees in Keil's Den, a nature reserve managed by the Woodland Trust, which preserves ancient forests and creates new forests. Silberline also presented each school with its own, 10-foot tall silver birch and a £250.00 donation for ecology education.

In Asia, managing director Michael Lowe and director global marketing, plastics & consumer products Joseph Pang and staff marked the occasion at the company's Singapore facility with an areca palm tree planting, and planted cycas trees at the company's Suzhou, China facility. Via the Jinan, China facility, Silberline donated 65 more cycas trees to China's Ministry of Land and Resources for Jiangsu province nature parks. Noted Ms. Scheller, "We're certainly proud of the technical advances and worldwide growth we've achieved in our 65-year history yet after this pause for reflection, our feet are planted firmly in the future."