By Russ Tarby 

Contributing Writer

Three years ago, Liverpool Village Trustee Christina Fadden formed a four-person advisory committee to survey the village’s tree population.

In recognition of Liverpool’s renewed arboreal commitment, the Arbor Day Foundation based in Lincoln, Neb. designated the village as a 2019 Tree City USA in March.

Restrictions on public gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused Arbor Day events to be canceled this past spring, but now two emblems – a green-and-white flag and an official plaque – have been received and put on display by the village.

Last week, the Tree City USA flag waved in the breeze below the Stars and Stripes on the village flagpole on the lawn of the Gleason Mansion at 314 Second St.

On Monday, Oct. 19, the village board of trustees planned to officially accepted the gifts from the foundation.

Fadden thanked the volunteers who serve on the village Tree Committee, chairperson Yvette Hewitt, Lisa Ballantyne, Diane Recor and Adam Woodburn, a professional arborist. Last July, the village board established the committee and appointed its members to three-year terms.

In the past two years, the Tree Committee has collaborated with students at Liverpool Elementary School to celebrate Arbor Day by planting a new tree on village property near the school. This year’s planting on April 24 was canceled, however, due to the worldwide health crisis.

“The element of the Tree City USA application requiring the most time was enactment of a modern, comprehensive local law that provides for a board for the guidance and stewardship of our beautiful trees,” Fadden said. She estimates that some 1,800 trees grow on village property here, including some 70 century-old silver maples.