If you haven’t had a chance to send in a reflection, editor Michelle will be happy to add it. Please send to editor@nysufc.org.
There are two rich profiles of Brian on the blog that you might like to visit. A popular profile from 2014, and Brian’s reflections on his career from the time of his semi-retirement from National Grid. There’s also a post about Brian receiving the first-ever Heartwood Award for service to the Council.
Your December TAKING ROOT is here!
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Reported by Philip C. Wade, Bainbridge Mayor, Leader of Arbor Date Event
The Village of Bainbridge (pop ~ 3300) is located at the eastern edge of Chenango County, halfway between Binghamton and Oneonta. The Village was awarded up to $1000 in grant monies from the New York State Urban Forestry Council to be used for tree purchase and planting materials for a community Arbor Day Tree Planting event which was held in Bainbridge on Friday, May 25th. It was a very successful event, with participation from the Village DPW crew, Boy Scouts, and the local Jericho Garden Club of Bainbridge.
As a result, seven balled-and-burlapped (B&B) trees of 1.5 to 2” caliper representing six different species were planted around the Village, including the Village Green Park, along Greenlawn Avenue, on Front Street, and on Parsons Street. All species are suitable for Bainbridge’s USDA Hardiness Zone (5a to 6a, depending on microclimate within the Village), and in respect to the local maple sugaring industry, included a sugar maple cultivar (Acer saccharum ‘Fall Fiesta’).
Reporting by John Correll.
The Village of Lima (in Livingston County, south of Rochester; pop. ~ 4300) selected Saturday April 14, 2018 for its first-ever Arbor Day planting event. This date coincided with the pick-up dates for the Livingston County Soil & Water Conservation Tree & Shrub Seedling Program, the source of some supplies needed for the Arbor Day event. Lima was one of 13 communities selected to receive an Arbor Day grant from the Council.
Thank you to Tom Cavataio, Member of the Freeville Village Planning Board and Tree Committee, for this excellent report.
Another successful tree planting in the Village of Freeville took place on Saturday, November 10th, 2018. You may have read in a previous blog post that we hosted a limited planting in May 2018. The planting was limited due to the lack of availability of the narrow-growth crabapples that we selected to plant this year.
The Tree Committee met in July to confirm the varieties of the crabapples as well as a small number of cultivars of two native hardwood species that we would purchase bare root: red maple (Acer rubrum ‘Karpick’) and swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor ‘Beacon’). The goals were to beautify the areas of plantings, employ the traffic-calming effect of trees planted in the school zone, and also to replicate to a certain degree the taller-growth trees that many long-time village residents recall from years past (something of a challenge, given that a lot of infrastructure now exists in that area that did not decades ago). The July meeting also yielded a tentative timeline for ordering and taking delivery of the trees, which we planned to plant the first or second Saturday in November.
DEC ANNOUNCES $2.24 MILLION IN URBAN FORESTRY GRANTS AWARDED TO PROJECTS STATEWIDE
Funding Supports Tree Plantings and Projects to Protect Air Quality, Water Quality and Natural Resources
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos recently announced $2.24 million in grants for urban forestry projects to protect air quality, water quality, and natural resources across the state. The grants are part of DEC’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, which helps communities develop and implement comprehensive tree planting, management, maintenance, and education to create healthy forests while enhancing quality of life for residents.
Our longtime Council friend and champion Brian Skinner has passed away. RIP to a kind and generous man, devoted to family, his profession, and the Council. The details for services, and a link to Brian’s obituary, are below.
If you have a story of a time spent with Brian, or something nice that he did for you, or any other memory to share, could you please share your anecdote with editor Michelle at editor@nysufc.org? Thank you.
Calling Hours for Brian will be from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday, November 29th at the Schepp Family Funeral Home. They are located at: 6530 Schepp’s Corners Road, Minoa, NY, 13116.
Brian’s Funeral Services are scheduled for 11am, Friday, November 30th at the same location.
Brian has requested donations in lieu of flowers. He suggested either the American Lung Association at www.lung.org or the Tree Fund at treefund.org.
Brian’s obituary can be viewed at www.scheppfamily.com or at www.syracuse.com.
NY ReLeaf 2019 will be July 18-20 at Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh. “What a beautiful campus!” says Council President Karen Emmerich. “It has wonderful views of the Hudson, both north and south, and a view across to Beacon and the Hudson Highlands.” Details of the program will come later. New York ReLeaf conferences are a high-quality, affordable opportunity for all folks involved or interested in urban and community forestry to network and learn in a relaxed, welcoming environment. Save the date!
One of the truly nifty things about this conference site is the proximity of the Alice and Thomas Desmond Arboretum of Mount St. Mary College’s Desmond Campus. Look for a post about the Arboretum soon.
Reported by Michael DeMarco, Planner for the City of Watertown and ISA Certified Arborist
October 20, 2018 marked the City of Watertown’s 17th Annual Fall Tree Planting event co-sponsored by the City and Tree Watertown, the City’s street tree advisory board. This year’s event was held at Cosgrove–Sherman St. Park. Historically, this large green space has been used as a sanitary and stormwater sewer corridor, but it is technically categorized as a municipal park.
