On Friday, April 27, 2018 at 10am, the Pennington Shade Tree Committee will host Pennington Borough’s annual Arbor Day celebration with the help of first grade students at Toll Gate Grammar School. The ceremony will take place on Main Street and East Welling Avenue. The Shade Tree Committee will be planting a Kwanzan Cherry tree, and the first grade students will read their original poems about trees.
Pennington Borough will be recognized this Arbor Day for its milestone accomplishment of being certified as a Tree City for the 30th year in a row. Tree City USA is a program of the Arbor Day Foundation that honors communities across the country with a demonstrated commitment to maintaining their trees and forests.
“We are honored to receive this recognition,” said Mayor Anthony Persichilli, “And we plan to stay a Tree City for at least another 30 years!”
“It is never too early to teach our children about the value of trees in our community and on our planet,” said Gabe Rosko, Chair of the Pennington Shade Tree Committee. “We are happy to spend Arbor Day with the first graders of Toll Gate, to plant this tree, to hear their thoughts about trees and to help keep Pennington a Tree City.”
“Filling buckets is a big part of how we maintain a kind, caring school community at Toll Gate; random acts of kindness and caring are an everyday occurrence,” said Toll Gate Principal Dr. Faye Lewis. “As such, participating in the planting of this tree (while listening to these beautiful poems) is a way for us to demonstrate how much we care for the earth and for our town. This simple act of planting a tree reminds not only our first grade students, but all of us, that we can all take small steps to make Pennington just a little better.”
Pennington has been able to achieve its Tree City status thanks to the work of the Pennington Shade Tree Committee, a seven-member citizen board that provides strategic direction on how to maintain a healthy canopy of shade trees throughout the Borough.
