UMATILLA — A swarm of volunteers in neon vests spread out up and down Sixth Street in Umatilla on Saturday, March 13, to plant 73 new trees downtown.

Esmerelda Horn, development and recreation manager for the city of Umatilla, said the trees are a mixture of hornbeam trees and red maples. The city plans to make the tree planting an annual springtime event.

“We’ll hit up a different area every year,” she said.

The city put out a call for volunteers to show up at 8:30 a.m., anticipating it would take until about 11 a.m. to get all the trees in. Instead, so many volunteers came out to help that it took an hour. Some showed up as individuals or families, while groups also showed up from organizations, including the InterMountain Education Service District’s Migrant Education program, Umatilla School District and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“It’s incredible,” City Manager David Stockdale said. “These are the type of community events that bring everyone together.”

Workers also drew comments from people driving or walking past, thanking them for their efforts to beautify downtown.

Brenda Flores brought seven students and four adults from the IMESD Migrant Education program’s leadership group called Semillas, which means “seeds” in Spanish.

“We just want our students to get involved in their community, to participate, and show they have something to add,” she said.

As students sat on a picnic table and ate a snack after the work was finished, Flores noted it was the one-year anniversary of their last day of in-person school, and said it was nice that at least they were together outside for the anniversary.

The new trees will complement a nearly complete renovation of Sixth Street by the Oregon Department of Transportation and the city of Umatilla.

The downtown corridor received new paving, “bulbed out” curbs at crosswalks to help signal to drivers to slow down while passing through town, and cosmetic upgrades, such as stamped concrete and updated light posts.

Stockdale said hanging flower baskets and other touches will be added soon, and the city will pressure wash everything to clean up the vestiges of construction.