Shown above is the Drake Well Logo.

TITUSVILLE — This year Arbor Day brings a unique community and nature conscientious event held by the Petroleum History Institute (PHI), Friends of Drake Well, Inc. (FDW) and Drake Well Museum and Park have planned to come together to dedicate new trees planted at 2 p.m. Friday, April 26 at the museum, located at 202 Museum Lane, in memory of five individuals influential to the Pa. oil region and beyond.

The five men being honored during the Arbor Day celebration are William L. Huber, Daniel Joseph Leech, Samuel T. Pees, Russell L. Schetroma, Esq., and Ellsworth E. “Pete” Sparks, according to Friends of Drake Well Executive Director Emily Weaver.

The trees being planted in recognition of these men are new trees, native to the state of Pennsylvania — including: Eastern Hemlock for Huber; two Sugar Maple trees for Leech and Schetroma; and two Spring Snow Crabapple trees for Pees and Sparks. “The trees will be planted in different locations throughout the Drake Well site,” confirmed Weaver.

The individuals being memorialized during this Arbor Day celebration are being honored for their involvement in different aspects of the petroleum and gas industry in Pennsylvania.

Huber, who died in 2017, was an independent oil producer from Venango County, spent his life working in the oil fields. He loved the history of the Pennsylvania oil region and was featured in different interviews and documentaries speaking on the subject throughout his life. He was very involved in the Oil 150 celebration in 2009 and participated in programs at Drake Well Museum.

Leech, who died in 2022, was a tool and die maker and self-taught metallurgist who founded Leech Carbide in Meadville in 1965. He was a well-known businessman in the area, being named an “industry legend” in 2006 by the Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association. He was also a proud founding member of the Petroleum History Institute.

Pees, respected geologist, oil field historian, writer and lecturer, passed away in Meadville in 2009. In his early years, he worked as a petroleum geologist, traveling throughout the world. He started his own oil and gas consulting company based in Meadville in 1978, specializing in deep gas exploration in the northern Appalachian Basin. He wrote many geological and historical papers for professional and academic journals, winning awards for his contributions to the history of the oil and gas industry. Pees was a past-president of the Drake Well Foundation, which later became the Petroleum History Institute in 2003, as well as a charter member of The Colonel, Inc., — later renamed Friends of Drake Well, Inc., in 2005.

Schetroma, of Meadville, who died in 2015, was regarded by many as the “dean of Pennsylvania energy law,” representing many oil and gas exploration and production companies. He was a frequent author and speaker at energy trade and professional events and was listed among The Best Lawyers in America in 2015, along with many other accolades. He co-founded the Meadville law firm Culbertson, Weiss, Schetroma and Schug P.C. in 1972 and became a member of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC in 2010, helping it grow from 175 lawyers to 350.

Sparks, who passed away in 2014, started out working in the Pennsylvania oil fields — the fourth generation in his family to do so. His career eventually moved on to other ventures, but he never lost his love of oil field history, spending many volunteer hours with the Drake Well Foundation (later the Petroleum History Institute), The Colonel, Inc. (later Friends of Drake Well, Inc.) and Drake Well Museum and Park. He had an amazing, encyclopedic knowledge of the history of many old leases and oil workings through the Oil Creek Valley and was always willing to share that knowledge with others.

During the Arbor Day tree planting celebration for these influential men there will be light refreshments, following the tree dedication at the museum. All members of the public are welcome to attend — however, a simple pre-registration is required, no later than Monday, April 15. Register for this monumental event by contacting drakewell@verizon.net via email or by calling (814) 461-0008.

For additional information about the Drake Well Museum and Park, or visit www.drakewell.org. For more information on the Petroleum History Institute, Friends of Drake Well, Inc., or Drake Well Museum and Park, please visit www.petroleumhistory.org, or call (814) 827-2797.