Happy Arbor Day!

Image: Norway Maple flowers.

The public is welcome to attend an Arbor Day celebration today, 11 a.m. at Bryant Park on East Sixth Street.

The Shade Tree Commission is looking for new members. If you like trees and city beautification, you can apply to serve on the Commission. You will have an opportunity to expand your knowledge of the urban forest, its benefits and how to select the most suitable trees. Besides contributing beauty to neighborhoods, trees keep the city cooler in summer. There are many more reasons to get involved in keeping up the Queen City's urban forest of nearly 40,000 trees. Since the inception of the Ten Cities Tree Committee and then the Shade Tree Commission, hundreds of new trees have been planted to provide the next generation of our urban forest.

The Commission meets once a month and each fall members take part in the New Jersey Tree Federation's annual conference, earning education credits to keep up the Commission's status.

Click here for a downloadable application to serve on the Shade Tree Commission or any other city board or commission. Return your completed form to the mayor's office and to the city clerk's office, both in City Hall, 515 Watchung Avenue.

As you go about the city today, take a look at the trees. The young ones have most likely been planted with the help of the Shade Tree Commission. The stately, older trees serve as a reminder that the cycle of nature demands ongoing care, maintenance and replacement of trees as they mature and die.

Stop by Bryant Park for the festivities if you can, and help celebrate Arbor Day!

--Bernice Paglia