Conditions at Village Green Park recently became a little greener, thanks to an environmentally-fueled afternoon by the Rotary Club of Hillsborough.
A team of volunteers, led by site supervisor Mike Teeple, planted 16 Kwanzan Flowering Cherry trees, nine River Birch trees, four Sycamore trees, three Pin Oaks and three Red Maples along the walkways and future picnic area at the Brooks Boulevard park.
With help from long-time Rotary member and Central Jersey Nurseries owner Vince Lipani, 35 new trees were planted in celebration of Arbor Day.
Arbor Day can trace its roots back to 1854, when a journalist named Julius Sterling Morton purchased 160 acres of land in Nebraska City, Nebraska and planted a large amount of trees and shrubbery there. After becoming the editor of the Nebraska City News, Morton would regularly share information about trees and their importance to the world with his readers.
It wasn’t until January 1872 when he proposed that Arbor Day be created to encourage the widespread planting of trees.
Rotary Club of Hillsborough President Anthony Franchini said the work stemmed from the organization’s mission of giving back to the community at large.
“Our club is always looking for new and meaningful ways in which to contribute to our community,” Franchini said. “When we were approached to join this international Rotary effort, we were more than happy to do our part in improving our local environment.”
In his May 2018 message to the international organization of Rotary clubs, Rotary President Ian H.S. Riseley urged local Rotary clubs to plant trees in their community for Arbor Day.
Riseley said he hoped that “by planting trees, Rotarians will renew their interest in, and attention to, an issue that we must put back on the Rotary agenda: the state of our planet.”
The park, which had once been the home of two of the township’s early baseball and softball fields, should begin seeing blossoms almost immediately on most of the new trees.
Officials said the trees should be in full bloom in time for a dedication ceremony scheduled for Saturday, June 2. A permanent plaque will be unveiled at the ceremony to commemorate the new additions to the park.
The Rotary Club of Hillsborough has more than 40 active members from Hillsborough and the surrounding communities who “provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”