Mayor David Nettles attended special ceremony in Phillipsburg.
By Ruth Luse
On Friday, Hopewell Borough was named a Tree City USA by The National Arbor Day Foundation to honor its commitment to its community forest.
This was the first time Hopewell received this national recognition. It did so by doing the four things it needed to do: have a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program, and an Arbor Day observance.
On Friday, Arbor Day, Mayor David Nettles attended a ceremony in Phillipsburg at which the town was designated as a Tree City USA.
The following events marked Hopewell’s Arbor Day celebration:
On Friday, approximately 200 White Pine and Douglas Fir seedlings were distributed at the greenhouse inside Hopewell Elementary School. In addition, 20 plaques were placed around town as part of an ongoing project identifying some of the borough’s shade trees.
On Saturday (April 30), a tree was planted in the Hopewell Park, with Mayor Nettles officiating.
"Thanks to the efforts of many, Hopewell Borough has qualified to become a Tree City USA member. This status proves our community’s commitment to maintaining and improving our inventory of shade trees," said a spokesman.
The Tree City USA program is sponsored by The Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service.
Arbor Day began in Nebraska in 1874 and now is celebrated around the world. The observance was the idea of J. Sterling Morton, "who recognized that the plains of Nebraska lacked trees that were needed as windbreaks, for fuel and for building homes," said the spokesman.