Village of Greenwood Lake celebrates Arbor Day at Thomas Morahan Park

GREENWOOD LAKE — In the Town of Warwick it has seldom rained, if ever, on Arbor Day.
But on Friday, April 27, a group of first, second and third grade children, administrators and teachers from Greenwood Lake Elementary School stood in the rain, heavy at times, to celebrate the planting of a Black Tupelo tree in the picturesque Thomas Morahan Park.
Tree commissioners and gardenersThe Arbor Day celebration in Greenwood Lake was organized by the Town of Warwick Tree Commission and the Warwick Valley Gardeners.
The school children were joined by Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Mayor Jesse Dwyer, Town Shade Tree Commissioner Karen Emmerich, Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Michael Johndrow, members of the Warwick Rotary Club and other dignitaries.
Village of Warwick Shade Tree Commissioner Rob Scheuermann, was also on hand to explain the special features of the Black Tupelo tree.
Patricia Reinhardt, chair of the Arbor Day Committee, a former schoolteacher and member of the Warwick Valley Gardeners, spoke about the origins of the celebration and how the idea, which quickly spread throughout the country, was first observed in Nebraska in 1872.
She also led the group in singing “God Bless America.”
DonationsDuring the ceremony, Ginny Mazza and Ed Lynch, representing the Warwick Rotary Club, presented a $1,000 check from Rotary to Emmerich, the shade tree commissioner, for the planting of trees in local parks.
Emmerich, who pointed out that the rain that day was good for trees, described a Parks Department program to plant and care for a tree in honor of a person or event for a $400 donation.
Additional information can be obtained by calling 986-0151.
The ceremony concluded with the children reading two poems about the importance of trees and Gertrude Galligan of the Warwick Valley Gardeners explaining how to care for the evergreen trees she distributed to everyone.
- Roger Gavan