On April 27, 2018 the Town of New Windsor Tree Committee, in conjunction with the Town of New Windsor, hosted its inaugural Arbor Day tree dedication ceremony. Executive Assistant to Town Supervisor George Green / Chief of Staff Colin Schmitt provided this report.
This event was made possible thanks to a generous grant from the New York State Urban Forestry Council, which was used to purchase five eastern redbud trees and related supplies.
Thanks to the publicity from the grant and event, we secured additional donations of trees which led to the planting of 13 new trees around the town hall complex—eastern redbud, Kwanzan cherry, and weeping cherry trees.
We used the Arbor Day event to dedicate trees to specific veteran and first responder organizations. The event included the dedication of the trees, with a ceremonial planting for each organization, and the reading of descriptions of the specific trees. Over 100 people attended from a wide array of organizations and backgrounds.
Several classes of local students from varying grades attended the ceremony and sang our national anthem. Afterwards the students and other interested attendees were treated to an educational presentation from a local horticulturist who donated a seedling to each student to bring home and plant.
Our local fire departments also donated all labor and covered all costs to refurbish our town fireman’s memorial and beautify the area surrounding it. We were able to re-dedicate the memorial during our ceremony as well, which provided a moving tribute to those who sacrificed for our community. This also served to incorporate this important local site into the entire effort put forth by the tree committee.
It was fantastic to see the overwhelming support for our tree committee and Arbor Day event. The turnout and response was fantastic. We already have additional individuals and groups interested in volunteering to assist the tree committee carry out its mission and expand its reach. In that vein, we expect to launch a sub-group of volunteers to work on replacing and maintaining the trees in the town-owned cemetery.
We expect to be able to continue to expand and grow programs moving forward and would love to partner with the Urban Forestry Council again in the future.