Published: 4/30/2021 9:57:31 AM
This Friday, roll up your sleeves and get ready to plant trees in honor of National Arbor Day.
Join the Greenfield Tree Committee, Mayor Roxann Wedegartner, Paul Newell, Greenfield’s tree warden, the Department of Public Works staff, The Franklin Land Trust and various other Greenfield officials and residents to mark the celebration at noon at the Bank Row pocket park by planting shade trees.
“This new tree will provide shade in the park in coming years, creating a more pleasant environment for pedestrians,” Newell said. While at the event, attendees will hear the official Arbor Day Proclamation and learn about Greenfield’s public tree planting effort currently underway throughout the community.
On the following day, Saturday, May 1, the Greenfield Tree Committee will lead its annual neighborhood tree planting event, this year at Elm Terrace, with assistance from Greenfield Housing Authority. The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to noon, but volunteers are welcome to drop in for just part of the morning as well.
Margo Jones, a Greenfield Tree Committee member and local architect, says the project will “help provide shade and beauty in the neighborhood, replacing some trees that have been taken down over the years.”
Jones said Housing Authority staff and residents helped determine where trees will be planted. Housing Authority staff have also agreed to provide watering, essential to the survival of newly planted trees, throughout the growing season.Following a short tree planting demonstration at 8:30 in front of the Greenfield Housing Authority’s office at 1 Elm Terrace, volunteers will spread out to plant 25 trees using coronavirus-safe protocols. Masks are required for everyone’s safety.
“We had a highly successful neighborhood tree planting following these protocols in the fall of 2020. Volunteers — kids and grown-ups alike — had so much fun and were pleased to be able to contribute to the community in this way,” said Mary Chicoine, a member of the Greenfield Tree Committee.
Trees planted in Greenfield’s public spaces by Greenfield DPW’s Forestry Division and by the Greenfield Tree Committee are currently being funded by a U.S. Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration competitive grant and by Kostanski Funeral Home Memorial Tree Program.
For more information, visit greenfieldtreecommittee.org or facebook.com/greenfieldtree.