Nolan Machak, 3, accompanied by his grandmother, Ardie Machak, gets a birch sapling from the Butler Area Public Library Thursday, part of a nationwide Neighborhood Forest program that encourages children to plant trees. Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle

The timing of the Butler Area Public Library’s Neighborhood Forest program was ideal for 3-year-old Nolan Machak, whose family recently moved into a new house in Meridian.

The toddler and his grandmother were among the 82 families that signed up to receive saplings through the library’s program, which will distribute 152 white birch trees to area families.

“I’ve always been interested in gardening and want to share that with my grandson,” said Nolan’s grandmother, Ardie Machak. “They have a new house, and we need to get to planting there.”

The library began giving out the saplings on Wednesday.

Youth services librarian Tiffany Harkleroad said the Butler library was the first organization in Butler County to get involved with Neighborhood Forest.

The partnership forged with the nonprofit based in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., led to the distribution of more than 500 white pine trees in 2021.

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