A group of high school volunteers gave the Pella Parks Department a big boost Saturday morning as they plant tulips ahead of the Tulip Time annual celebration.

Parks Director Chandler Nunnikhoven tells KRLS News members of the Pella and Pella Christian cross country teams dug up beds and placed rows of bulbs in the ground along Main Street.

“It’s good for them to learn how to work with their hands,” he says. “There are actually some kids here today that aren’t even on the cross country teams that are just volunteering their time to come out and help.”

Nunnikhoven says the athletes, as well as a few friends outside of the teams, planted 15,000 bulbs, or about 12 percent of the 120,000 the city is responsible for this year. He says the staff will plant in the remaining beds along streets and in parks over the next two weeks.