Retired Pound Ridge Police Chief David Ryan (left) was honored by Former Pound Ridge Elementary School Principal (PRES) Amy Fishkin (center), current PRES Principal Dr. Stephanie Bell (not pictured), Town Supervisor Kevin Hansan (right) and other community members when a redbud (Cercis canadensis) was planted in Ryan’s honor near the police headquarters office where he worked for 25 years. It was an emotional experience for Ryan, and Council Board Member and ReLeaf Region 3 Co-Chair Jean Zimmerman says, “This was a lovely day, a lovely ceremony.” The tree was funded by a NYSUFC Tree City Reward Grant.

Thank you to Town of Pound Ridge Grants Coordinator & Administrator Christeen CB Dür for providing materials for this post. 

From Christeen CB Dür:

Thank you for awarding this grant to our Town! The tree is beautiful, colorful, thriving addition to our Town House/Police Department shared lawn and active common driveway.

All the residents of the Town of Pound Ridge including all the children at Pound Ridge Elementary School and members of the NYS UFC Grants Committee were invited to a special tree dedication ceremony celebrating trees, our status as a Tree City USA town, and to honor our Town’s Police Chief Dave Ryan as he retires from his 40-year career of service in law enforcement. Members of our Town Board, Police Department, Volunteer Fire Department, Volunteer Ambulance Corps., Pound Ridge Land Conservancy, and business association, plus all of our Boards and Committees including our Conservation Board were also invited and sent representatives to attend.

DPW crew planting the honorary redbud.

For the month of September, students from Pound Ridge Elementary School were invited to submit artwork about what they expect this special tree will look like once grown or in general any artwork with trees in advance of the ceremony to be displayed during the ceremony and in the Town House after the ceremony.

Student artwork and a flyer announcing the event.

Information about the NY State Urban Forestry Council and the Tree City USA Program as well as packets of seeds were given out during the ceremony to educate our community and highlight the importance of planting trees.

This tree dedication event and information about the NYS Urban Forestry Council was highlighted in our Town Supervisor’s weekly email, through our Town’s social media on Instagram and Facebook, posted our Town’s monthly calendar on townofpoundridge.com, and featured in our local paper, The Record Review.