Rotary clubs from all over the city will gather at 9 a.m. Saturday near the Clinton Lake Sports Complex to plant trees and shrubs.

The Rotary clubs of Lawrence are using the area between the soccer complex and the softball fields, west of Wakarusa Drive and the South Lawrence Trafficway, to create a Rotary Arboretum.

“We hope a lot of people come out and support it,” Rotary committee chairman George Woodyard said.

The arboretum is scheduled to be complete by February 2005, in time for Rotary’s national centennial.

“At that point we hope that the arboretum will be pretty well established,” Woodyard said.

The Lawrence City Commission agreed to partner with the Rotary clubs of Lawrence to allow the arboretum to happen.

At the Sept. 23 City Commission meeting, the Rotary clubs presented an initial $15,000 payment, $12,000 of which will go toward planting trees and shrubs. The rest will be used for infrastructure work.

In all, the three Lawrence Rotary clubs — Lawrence Rotary Club, Jayhawk Rotary Club and Central Rotary Club — pledged $50,000 to complete the project.

This is just the first series of plantings. There will be other planting periods throughout the next year, Woodyard said.

Rotary Club is an international organization whose local chapters are devoted to community service.

The arboretum “will be visible and it will be a symbol of Rotary giving to the community,” Woodyard said.

The city will maintain the arboretum.

“I think it’s a neat idea. I think it will be a great amenity for Lawrence,” Vice Mayor Mike Rundle said.

Mayor David Dunfield will be the speaker at Saturday’s planting ceremony.