Schoenike Arboretum Dedication

On October 2, 1999 the Clemson University Forestry Alumni Association officially dedicated the South Carolina Botanical Garden’s Roland E. Schoenike Arboretum.  The site was named for Dr. Schoenike one year before his death in 1988, but no official ceremony had taken place for the occasion.  As the years passed, however, Dr. Schoenike’s colleagues in the Department of Forest Resources continued to talk about the need to pay tribute to him by installing a plaque in his honor.  This October marked the end of an extensive, three-year restoration project at the Arboretum and provided an ideal opportunity for the Forestry Alumni to carry out their long anticipated plans.

Dr. Schoenike is credited with organizing the greatest expansion of woody plant materials in the collection during his tenure as manager of what was then called the Forestry Arboretum.  From 1969 to 1987, Dr. Schoenike planted, cared for, and studied some 2000 trees and shrubs in the arboretum.  Realizing a need to ensure that the site would be protected after his retirement, he arranged for the Arboretum to be transferred from the Department of Forestry to the SCBG with the understanding that it would be preserved in perpetuity.

Following Dr. Schoenike’s death, the arboretum’s condition suffered due to budget and personnel shortages at the SCBG.  Vines and weed trees invaded many areas, and the inventory records became outdated.  The SCBG staff, fearing the loss of the many valuable specimens in the collection, hired student interns and applied for grants to fund a restoration project.  Beginning in the summer of 1996, the efforts of dozens of student volunteers, master gardeners, boy scouts, and student employees were focused on reclaiming the area. 

Lacking the equipment for many restoration activities, the staff had to rely on the generosity of other University departments such as Agriculture Support and Facilities Maintenance.  Most recently, Clemson Forestry Extension personnel and students from the Clemson Chapter of the Student Society of Arboriculture organized an Arborist Service Day held on September 25, 1999, at the Arboretum.  This day of volunteer service brought in 80 tree care professionals from 22 companies and organizations in SC, NC, and GA and thousands of dollars in donations of materials and supplies.  The Service Day was a heroic final effort in the restoration project before the October 2^nd dedication.

At the dedication ceremony, which was held just past the Wren House gate to the Arboretum, members of Dr. Schoenike’s family unveiled a bronze plaque, which will be installed at the site of his propagation and nursery area.  Approximately 100 attendees were in attendance for the event.