For Immediate Release:
April 27, 2012
County marks Arbor Day with tree plantings
Warm weather makes for great outdoor events in Wall, Sea Girt
WALL AND SEA GIRT, NJ - Monmouth County officially marked Arbor Day with a tree plantings behind the West Belmar Elementary School and at the Sea Girt Elementary School.
In Wall, Freeholder Serena DiMaso spoke to students in a ceremony that included songs and poems by children in kindergarten through fifth grade. She helped plant a swamp white oak tree and presented the county’s Arbor Day proclamation. She also distributed white pine seedlings to each of the students. 
“This tree is a wonderful addition to your school,” DiMaso told the students. “Watch it and how fast it grows. This tree can live for more than 300 years and can grow as big as 75 feet tall. It will give you lots of shade with bi-colored leaves in summer and yellow leaves in the fall.”
West Belmar Elementary School Principal Anthony Abeal led the children in songs and poems, including this one by fourth-graders Erin Kniffin and Betsy Prevosti, called “Trees in the Breeze:”
Trees oh trees in the breeze
You make me sneeze
When the pollen in you
Flys, I go a-choo,
Beautiful trees make me sneeze
Staffer Cassandra Deckle, Interim Superintendent of Schools Stephanie Bilenker and Director of Curriculum Mary Jane Garibay gathered around the newly planted tree and applied mulch to its base.
In Sea Girt, both DiMaso and Freeholder Director John P. Curley spoke to the students about the importance of trees and presented a proclamation to school Principal Stephen LaValva. Students then helped the freeholders apply dirt and mulch to the base of a newly planted tree swamp white oak.
“The county Shade Tree Commission plants between 1,000 and 1,500 trees and shrubs each year,” Curley said. “But they do much more than just plant and maintain trees. When storms hit, crews are out assessing the damage to our trees and removing the broken limbs from our roads.
Swamp white oak trees (quercus bicolor) provide cover for birds and mammals. The acorns are sweet and are an important food for squirrels, mice, white-tailed deer and birds. The crown shape and bi-colored leaves are attractive features. Leaves turn yellow in the fall, with an occasional red-purple.
Trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clear the air, produce life-giving oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife. Trees also beautify our communities.
Students at each school took turns reading what “A tree is good for…” Responses included “Picking apples, a tree house, maple syrup, oxygen, making paper to write on, and swinging in the park.”
Curley and DiMaso distributed white pine seedlings to each of the Sea Girt students, who were encouraged to take the trees home, plant them and help with community forestation.
Each year the county holds Arbor Day celebrations that include tree plantings as part of its community forestry program. The county Shade Tree Commission is responsible for care and maintenance of the county’s many trees. Monmouth County actively participates in the Tree City USA program that is sponsored by The National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.
This is the sixth year in a row that Monmouth County has been designated as a “Tree City USA” by the National Arbor Day Foundation. Gaining “Tree City USA” recognition is an award to the tree workers, managers, volunteers, tree board members and others who work on behalf of better care of a community’s trees. Anyone who drives around Monmouth County or visits its 39 county parks knows that trees and gardens are a positive contribution to the county’s quality of life.
The County Divisions of Shade Tree and Planning will also be assisting with a planting project on Ketcham Road in Howell, in cooperation with Americorps and the New Jersey State Nursery. Up to 300 trees will be planted by volunteers, providing habitat for wildlife and improvement to the Manasquan and Meteconk watershed.
The event will take place rain or shine tomorrow starting at 9 a.m.
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