2019 Arbor Day Celebration

Description

The Arbor Day celebration will feature comments by village Mayor Rick Hauser, Tree Board representative James Reynolds and Department of Environmental Conservation forester Nate Morey of the Buffalo office. Tree planting will follow.

Among the trees to be planted during the village’s Arbor Day event are two Japanese maples, one of which is donated by the Perry Garden Club in memory of member Renate Woitscheck. Other trees slated for planting are 23 purchased through a Perry Rotary District Grant. These will fill in on village rights-of-way along S. Main St., Lake St., Pioneer grounds on Walker Rd., Gardeau/Water St. intersection and elsewhere.

The village’s Department of Public Works (DPW) will prepare planting sites prior to Arbor Day. Volunteers will work in small groups to plant trees at various locations.

The annual Arbor Day celebration is one criteria for the village to be named a Tree City USA. It first received that designation in 2017, making the Village of Perry the only Wyoming County municipality to earn the honor. As a result of the Tree Board’s and village’s tree-focused efforts in 2018, Perry was again named a Tree City USA.

In addition to an Arbor Day proclamation and observance, Tree City USA has three requirements: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, which Perry adopted in 2016, and an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita.

Through the Tree Board’s efforts, the village received a Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Urban Forestry Grant in 2017. The $22,690 grant allows the village to contract with Wendel, a Buffalo firm, to conduct a tree inventory and assessment and to develop a community forest management plan. The inventory and assessment, conducted by a certified arborist, will begin in late spring of this year.

The Village of Perry Tree Board is chaired by Dr. Dan Zerbe. Members include the VIllage’s DPW superintendent Eric Kelly, Dr. Ralph Field, Village trustee Eleanor Jacobs, Robin Redding, James Reynolds, Felisa McKay and Lori Schofield.

For information about the Village of Perry’s Arbor Day celebration, please contact the Village office at 585.237.2216.