Medina will plant 60 trees for Arbor Day
Provided photo – Hundreds of children from Oak Orchard Elementary School gather for Medina’s 2013 Arbor Day Celebration.
Press Release
Medina Tree Board
MEDINA – Arbor Day 2015 will mark the eighth year in a row that the Village of Medina has been awarded the Tree City USA designation by the National Arbor Day Foundation. The award honors Medina’s commitment to community forestry.
This year Medina will plant 60 trees, mostly along areas of Park Avenue with additional plantings on West Center Street, West Avenue, Gwinn Street, Elizabeth Street and Mead Avenue.
Medina’s annual Arbor Day Celebration is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on April 24 at the Medina Historical Society, 406 West Ave. Hundreds of grades kindergarten through second grade school children from Oak Orchard Elementary School are expected to attend and participate.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley will be in attendance along with Michael Kracker, aide to Congressman Chris Collins. Mayor Andrew Meier will read the annual Arbor Day Proclamation.
“We’re so very proud to be a Tree City USA community,” Meier said. “It demonstrates commitment to the community’s environment and helps make our village an attractive place to live, work and visit. Other communities continue to look to Medina for help over and guidance in starting their own Tree Board and planting initiatives. It’s a source of pride knowing that our urban forestry efforts have inspired others.”
The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters, and the USDA Forest Service. Tree City USA is a national designations.
This year the village will plant six trees from citizen-sponsored tree requests.
“Each year, we receive more and more applications from citizens looking to plant trees on the right-of-way in front of their home,” said Chris Busch, Medina’s Tree Board chairman. “For $150, the village will plant an approved tree, sponsored by a citizen (provided the site/tree meet criteria). This year we’re planting six trees in village neighborhoods.”
Applications for citizen-sponsored tree plantings are available on the village’s Municipal Tree Board website, by clicking here.
“We commend Medina’s elected officials, volunteers and its citizens for providing vital care for its urban forest,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Trees provide numerous environmental, economical and health benefits to millions of people each day, and we applaud communities that make planting and caring for trees a top priority.”
Nicole Goyette, Arbor Day coordinator for the village and Creative Studies teacher with the Medina Central School District is quick to tell of the many benefits of planting urban trees.
“Trees dramatically increase the overall quality of life in the community,” she said. “Time and again, research has shown the multiple benefits. Trees reduce carbon dioxide, dust and other air pollutants; they are natural stormwater capture and retention devices, lower summer air temperatures, and- most importantly- increase property values.”
Recent studies indicate a row of mature street trees has been shown to increase property values up to 18 percent.
Arbor Day is celebrated in Medina and across New York State on the last Friday in April, this year on April 24.
