Medina plants trees with lots of glee on Arbor Day
Photo by Tom Rivers: Second-graders in Medina’s Glee Club make a heart shape with their hands while singing “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” during an Arbor Day ceremony today. The Glee Club also performed “Sunshine Day” and “Joy to the World (Jeremiah was a Bullfrog).”
MEDINA – The Village of Medina celebrated Arbor Day today with second- and third-graders from Oak Orchard Primary School helping plant four of the 51 new trees in the village.
The students each got to toss a shovel full of dirt in the big holes along Gwinn Street where new trees are going in the public right-of-way along the sidewalks.
Medina has been named a “Tree City USA” for its ongoing commitment to planting trees.
Jason Wetherbee, a second grader in Mrs. Brooks class, helps plant a Red Jewel Crabapple tree on Gwinn Street near Williams Street. Another group of second-graders planted the same type of tree less than a block away on Gwinn near Frank Street.
Farther down the street going south, third-graders planted two Zelkova serrata trees.
Medina Mayor Debbie Padoleski reads a proclamation about Arbor Day. She thanked the Tree Board volunteers for their efforts to bring new trees to Medina.
Arbor Day was first celebrated in Nebraska when that state celebrated planting more than a million trees. J. Sterling Morton in 1872 proposed that a special day be set aside to lant trees.
“Trees are enjoyed by everyone, young and old, wherever they are planted, and are a source of happiness and beauty in our village,” Padoleski said.
The Tree Board is led by Mary Lewis with Jake Hebdon, Lisa Tombari and Esther Weeks as members. Chris Busch, the past board chairman, also assists in selecting the trees as the village’s forestry coordinator.
The Medina DPW has planted 51 trees this spring on West Oak Orchard Street, West Avenue and Eagle, Gwinn and West Center streets.
Medina elementary students have been a part of the Arbor Day celebration for many years in Medina.
These second-graders in Dana Reeves’ class planted a tree with gusto this morning.
Medina’s urban forestry program is recognized as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
The new trees are funded through donations. Information about donating can be obtained at the village clerk’s office or by downloading the ReLeaf brochure online at www.villagemedina.gov or by contacting Lewis at mLewis.villagemedina@gmail.com. Checks for tree donations should be made payable to the Orleans Renaissance Group, Inc. – Notation: ‘ReLeaf Medina’ and mailed to PO Box 543, Medina, NY.
