Joyce Kilmer said it best back in 1913: “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.”

The village of Liverpool is teaming up with students at Liverpool Elementary School to celebrate the village’s first-ever Arbor Day on Friday, April 20.

Following an assembly in the cafeteria from 9:30 to 10 a.m., members of the village Tree Committee will join LE Principal Darcy Woodcock and the school’s sixth-grade students as they march outside to raise the flag and plant a donated Serviceberry Tree on village property at the northern base of Fourth Street.

The rest of New York state will celebrate Arbor Day on the final Friday of the month, April 27, but students will be enjoying their spring break that week, so they’re planting the Serviceberry on the 20th.

Tree Committee Chairperson Christina Fadden Fitch — also a trustee and deputy mayor of Liverpool — will welcome New York State Forester Matt Swayze, who will raise the Arbor Day flag and speak to the students about the importance of trees to the ecosystem.

Village of trees

Liverpool has long been known as a village of trees, Fitch said. “Right now, we have roughly 1,800 trees in the village, including some 70 silver maples estimated to be 100 years old,” she said.

Those aging trees can pose problems as evidenced by the silver maple that suddenly crashed down across Second Street last August. So the Tree Committee is actively pursuing risk-assessments of our tree stock.

The committee — which includes Fitch, Lisa Ballantyne, Yvette Hewitt, Diane Recor and Adam Woodburn — has also set its sights on getting the village designated as one of the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Cities USA.

Ballantyne arranged for Friday’s tree donation from Aspinall’s Tree Nursery of Chittenango. “Serviceberry is a nice medium-sized native tree,” Ballantyne said. “It has small white flowers in spring, small fruits in fall that the birds love and nice fall color. The flowers are also bee-attractive.”

Fitch has been a member of the national Arbor Day Foundation for nearly three decades. Since being appointed to chair the Tree Committee last year, she’s been pleased by the committee’s progress. “We’re beginning to formalize tree-care here for the long-term future,” she said.

Retreat going CoreLife?

Are micro-grains trumping meat? On its March 23 lunch menu, The Retreat offered a fruit and nut salad featuring mixed spring micro-grains and chopped romaine, hearty-red quinoa and farro grains, sun-dried cherries, fresh strawberries, mandarin oranges, toasted slices almonds, chick peas, goat cheese and fresh sliced avocado, served with apple cider vinaigrette dressing and garlic bread, all for $10.50. Thanks, anyhow, but I’ll stick to prime rib.

Last word

“Trees are vital. As the biggest plants on the planet, they give us oxygen, store carbon, stabilize the soil and give life to the world’s wildlife. They also provide us with the materials for tools and shelter. Not only are trees essential for life, but as the longest living species on earth, they give us a link between the past, present and future.” – The Royal Parks, United Kingdom

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