Local Hiroshima survivor on hand for tree ceremony – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

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Local woman honored in Salem at peace tree ceremony By Kevin Opsahl Updated: Sep 20, 2022 04:17 PM A A Hideko Tamura Snider waters a Hiroshima Peace Tree Aug. 9 in Ashland. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] A Rogue Valley woman who survived the bombing of Hiroshima as a girl will be the guest of honor Wednesday at a ceremony in Salem to recognize a program she started to plant saplings throughout Oregon that were grown from the seeds of trees that survived the atom bomb more than 75 years ago. Hideko Tamura-Snider, a 10-year-old when the United States dropped the bomb Aug. 9, 1945, will attend the ceremony Wednesday at Oregon Department of Forestry’s headquarters in the state’s capital. Tamura-Snider, a community activist who founded the One Sunny Day Initiative to promote peace and nuclear disarmament around the world, played a major role in ensuring “survivor seeds” of the bombing were planted. She did it with the help of Ashland arborist Mike Oxendine, who germinated the seeds before Oregon Community Trees and Oregon Department of Forestry collaborated in finding homes for them. Representatives from 45 organizations that planted 51 peace trees in 35 communities around the state have been invited to the ceremony. The 51st tree was planted in Gresham Sept. 19, and as part of Wednesday’s ceremonies, ODF will dedicate the ginkgo peace tree planted on its campus back in April 2020. Tamura-Snider gave a keynote address and planted a tree near the Southern Oregon University student farm in Ashland Aug. 9, during the 77th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima.