Ruth Meier, a Master Gardener from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County assists student volunteers from the Notre Dame High School NJROTC with properly planting and mulching one of 20 bare root katsuras that will help restore the Olmsted-designed tree canopy in Utica’s FT Proctor Park. (photo (c) 2015 Roger B. Smith)
Arbor Day was celebrated on Friday, April 24, and the Central New York Conservancy celebrated it in style with the City of Utica!
The 3-day weekend event honored the spirit of Arbor Day, with local tree experts donating their time and talent to remove and prune trees, two lectures about safety procedures when working around trees and proper pruning, the planting of numerous trees, and a ceremonial tree planting in FT Proctor Park. All events were free and open to the public.
Big thanks to all our 36 volunteer tree care workers who donated 288 aggregate hours on Friday, April 24 to remove 18 hazardous trees. The tree services that volunteered included Bartlett Tree Experts; Cresswell Bros., Inc.; Hutchings Tree Service; National Grid; Nelson Tree Service; Rick Turk Tree Service; Stumpin by Mike; Gardener’s Tree Service; Top Notch Tree Service; Family Tree Service; and Mohawk Valley Tree Service. Thanks, too, to Northern Safety for the product display and donation of a chainsaw for the raffle. (Photo (c) 2015 Roger B. Smith)
Arbor Day 2014 in Utica was made possible in part by a $936 grant from the NYS Urban Forestry Council and funds from the Conservancy’s 2014 Year-End Appeal.
On April 25 & 26, community volunteers of all ages helped to restore the tree canopy in Utica’s parks and on the City’s Memorial Parkway with the planting of 60 new trees, all selected from Olmsted’s original list of trees. Students from the TR Proctor High School NJROTC, Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, Utica College, Madison-Oneida BOCES (New Hartford), and Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners were on hand to help plant trees on Saturday, while Parkway residents planted trees on April 26 under the guidance of Conservancy Board Members and Certified Arborists Mike Mahanna and Terry Hawkridge.
CNY Conservancy Board Member and Certified Arborist Mike Mahanna (kneeling, foreground) demonstrates how to properly plant a bare-root Katsura for student volunteers from Notre Dame High School NJROTC and Utica College. (photo (c) 2015 Roger B. Smith)
Media were encouraged to attend, especially on Friday, April 24 at 1:00 P.M., when members of the Conservancy, Mayor Robert Palmieri, Commissioner of the NY State Office of General Services RoAnn Destito, and other local and state dignitaries came together to plant a ceremonial tree in Fort Proctor Park. Media were able to conduct interviews with Conservancy and City officials.
The full schedule appears below for the interest of other cities that are thinking about starting or enhancing their Arbor Day celebrations.
ARBOR DAY SCHEDULE – FRIDAY, APRIL 24
All events will occur rain, snow (!) or shine…The public is invited to attend. Please obey all safety precautions in effect!
Friday, April 24: Tree Removal & Pruning
7:45 a.m. Contractors arrive on-site (list of contractors available April 1)
8:00 a.m. Coffee/Doughnuts & National Grid Safety Presentation
8:30 a.m. Northern Safety display/presentation; raffles (for crew members only)
9:00 a.m. Assignments given to tree crews
9:30 a.m. Crews working in field until 12:30 p.m.
12:00 p.m. Lunch for crews in FT Proctor Pavilion (half-hour)
1:00 p.m. Ceremonial Tree Planting (Mayor Palmieri, local dignitaries & CNYC Board President Bill Locke)
1:30 p.m. Crews working in field until 4 p.m.
ARBOR DAY SCHEDULE – SATURDAY, APRIL 25
Saturday, April 25: Tree Planting
9:00 a.m. Hand out planting assignments to volunteers; Brief how-to for volunteers on planting bare-root trees.
Approximately 60 trees to be planted in FT/TR Proctor Parks and in Welsh Bush Road area.
9:30 a.m. Planting begins
1:00 p.m. Lunch for volunteers at FT Proctor Park Pavilion
2:00 p.m. Clean-up and collect planting tools
ARBOR DAY SCHEDULE – SUNDAY, APRIL 26
10:00 a.m. Workshop on Pruning by Certified Arborists & CNY Conservancy Board Members Terry Hawkridge & Mike Mahanna – talk is free and open to the public
12:30 p.m. Tree planting begins on the Memorial Parkway from Mohawk St. to Sherman Dr.
CNY Conservancy Board member and Certified Arborist Mike Mahanna (kneeling, center) explains how to plant, mulch, and stake a bare-root Katsura. Students from TR Proctor High School’s NJROTC program pitched in to help plant 20 Katsuras in FT Proctor Park. Conservancy Board member Joe Caruso (far left) looks on. (photo (c) 2015 Roger B. Smith)