Town of Penfield’s First Arbor Day a Roaring Success

The Conservation Board and the Planning Department of the Town of Penfield hosted a tree planting event and giveaway in Rothfuss Park, sponsored in part by a $1000 Quick Start grant from the NYSUFC. We at the Council are really impressed with the event Penfield organized!

Town of Penfield Junior Planner Catherine DuBreck GISP provided superb documentation of the event, including the video above.

Catherine writes:

Thanks to the Spring 2022 Quick Start Grant, we planted four (4) red maple trees (Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’) along a portion of the walking trail at Rothfuss Park in Penfield on Saturday April 23, 2022, as proposed in our grant application. Our event ran from 10:30AM-12:30PM, and in addition to planting the four large red maples, we also had three Town Board members read a proclamation in honor of Arbor Day and Earth Day.

In addition to planting four larger trees, our town Conservation Board used budgeted money to purchase 100 eastern white pine and 50 red maple seedlings to give to attendees. The Board reserved 25 of the red maple seedlings to plant in Rothfuss Park to create a small red maple grove. The Town landscape consultant, DPW director, and Parks foreman assisted with the planning for the grove. All 25 reserved red maple seedlings were planted by families in attendance at the event.

The Conservation Board handed out seedlings in a paper bag that included information about the species and instructions for planting. The Board also purchased a small plaque commemorating the event, which has been installed near the grove. The 125 seedlings reserved for the resident giveaway were distributed. All items related to seedlings were purchased with Town budgeted money to supplement the grant as outlined in our application.

We had several community groups join the event, including the Town Conservation Board, Town Trails Committee, local environmental groups (i.e., Color Penfield Green and Healthy Yards Monroe County). The Rochester Museum and Science Center brought a 3D model of a watershed to help educate residents. A local Girl Scout troop participated in planting the four larger red maples, and two local Boy Scout troops joined to help families planting in the small grove area. We also had the support of the Penfield Central School District which granted us permission to display yard signs in front of a couple schools to get the word out about the event.

Attendance:
We had over 80 families/members of our community/staff celebrate Penfield’s Earth/Arbor Day event. Sign-in sheet copies are included in this report. A summary of attendees is provided below:
• Girl Scouts
• Boy Scouts
• Town Engineering staff
• Town Planning staff
• Town Developmental Services staff
• Town DPW staff
• Town Parks staff
• Elected Town Supervisor
• Elected Town Board members
• Conservation Board
• Rochester Museum and Science Center
• Town Recreation staff
• Trails Committee
• Healthy Yards Monroe County
• Color Penfield Green
• Local families and residents

Before a municipality can have an urban forestry program, they must recognize and appreciate the importance of their urban forest. Fortunately, the Town of Penfield does recognize our urban forest and the benefits it has on environmental, social, and economic well-being. We believe this was conveyed to our community and residents at the tree planting event which demonstrated Penfield’s initiative to apply for the grant and plant more trees in our local park along the unshaded walking path.

With a new Town Supervisor and new Town Board members, the prospect of Penfield creating a formal urban forestry program and becoming a Tree City USA certified community is quickly gaining momentum.

Many of our municipal neighbors have their own forestry programs and achieved Tree City USA status. Achieving this status for Penfield is in line with our community values. Our Town already has tree preservation guidelines, as well as a street tree policy. They, combined with the success of our Spring 2022 planting event, have set the foundation for Penfield to continue working towards creating an official urban forestry program and obtaining Tree City status.

Thank you for awarding the Town of Penfield the Spring 2022 Quick Start Grant and supporting our goals of increasing our urban tree canopy while working towards Tree City USA status.

Sincerely,
Catherine DuBreck
Junior Planner GISP
Town of Penfield