OC Bicentennial Committee adds trees to Fairgrounds
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds has 10 new trees on its campus, including eight along Route 31 near the Buzz Hill Education Center and two across the creek.
The Orleans County Bicentennial Committee funded the new trees, wanting to celebrate the county’s 200thanniversary with a gift that will last for years to come.
The top photo shows Bicentennial Committee member Ken DeRoller, left, and County Legislator Fred Miller, with Holley Mayor Mark Bower in back. Bower also is a Bicentennial Committee member.
The Cornell Cooperative Extension picked out the varieties and determined the locations for the new trees, which include four sugar maple, two willows, two white oak, and two bur oak.
Bicentennial Committee members plant one of the sugar maples. From left includes Isabella Zasa, a tourism assistant and digital content creator for the County Tourism Department; County Historian Catherine Cooper; and Ken DeRoller, a former county legislator.
“For centuries, this area was undisturbed and deep woods developed,” Cooper said. “The people who settled this area 200 hundred years ago chopped down the trees to clear the land and make a living.”
The Bicentennial Committee worked on events and projects to celebrate the county’s milestone anniversary in 2025. The group wanted until this spring to team with the Cooperative Extension to plant the trees.
“Today, we have come full circle,” Cooper said on Wednesday. “We are planting trees to help restore the environment and enhance living.”
