Regreen Springfield Partners with Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts to Replant Central Street

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New English Oaks line lower Central Street.


New English Oaks line lower Central Street.

The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts provided funding for the planting of new shade trees along Central Street, between Main and Maple Streets, in an effort to help restore the tree canopy destroyed by the June 2011 Tornado. Since the storm event, The Garden Club Federation has donated funding to plant over 70 new trees in Springfield. Regreen Springfield is enormously grateful to the kind generosity of the Federation, which represents garden clubs across the state.

On Saturday, June 13th, new columnar English Oak trees were planted, utilizing volunteers from Cathedral High School, as well as staff from the City of Springfield Forestry Division. The new trees are intended to provide cooling shade to the residential row houses on Central Street, while adding to the aesthetic and environmental quality of the neighborhood.

 

Before and After photos of Central Street.


Before and After photos of Central Street.

Volunteers maneuver a large English Oak into position for planting on Central Street.


Volunteers maneuver a large English Oak into position for planting on Central Street.

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Regreen Springfield Gala Celebrates Contributors

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The Barney Carriage House in Forest Park was the site of the Regreen Springfield Gala celebration.

The Barney Carriage House in Forest Park was the site of the Regreen Springfield Gala celebration.

On May 20th, over 75 people attended the Regreen Springfield Gala celebration at the Barney Carriage House in Forest Park.  The event, which was attended by Mayor Domenic Sarno, as well as State Representative Carlos Gonzalez provided an opportunity for Regreen Springfield to thank the numerous corporate and individual donors who have helped to make the work of the organization possible.

Musical entertainment was provided by students from the Community Music School of Springfield, and several speakers thanked those in attendance for helping to support the vision of the organization.

Regreen Springfield will celebrate the fourth anniversary of it’s founding, on June 6th, just five days following the devastating tornado which impacted much of the city.  Since then, we have been able to partner with the City of Springfield, other organizations and strategic cooperators to plant nearly 2,000 tree across the city and bring educational programming to neighborhoods in every part of Springfield. This year we are working to ensure that the momentum continues  and that we take an even larger role in helping make Springfield a greener place to live.

The following donors have contributed to the organization over the past years, in an effort to help regreen the city… one tree at a time:

Bresnahan InsuranceCentral Nurseries
Christopher Collins
Community Music School
Copy Cat Print Shop, West Springfield
Davey Tree
Develop Springfield
Farmers Market at Forest Park
Federated Garden Clubs of Massachusetts
Gardening the Community
Home Depot
James B. Harris
MA Dept of Conservation and Recreation
MA Office of Energy Resources
Mayor Domenic Sarno
Mt. Tom Box Company
NASCAR		 Northern Nurseries
Northern Tree Service
Paperboard Packaging Council
Partyka Resource Management
Peoples Bank
Pride Stores
ReBuild Western Massachusetts
Representative Richard E. Neal
Sixteen Acres Garden Center
Smith & Wesson
Sodexo Food Service
Springfield Garden Club
TD Bank
The City of Springfield
The Rebecca’s Lodge
US Forest Service
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‘Our City Forest’ Program Reaches City Students

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IMG_7321The program is called “Our City Forest” – a free program for area students run by Springfield Parks Department, ReGreen Springfield, and the U.S Forest Service.

The thought is if they work with kids early on, it provides long-term benefits for students and the city. “The neat thing about this project here. It’s taken place in an area…an area of a lot of crime, but if we can have the youth focus in on projects where they won’t join a gang. The idea is to keep them out of the gangs, in school, enrich their education,” explained David Bloniarz of the U.S. Forest Service.

The mission is to use hands-on activities, like tree bingo, to learn what we can find in our own urban activities.  “What they can see in their own urban spaces.  We’re not looking at big deers or things like that.  We’re looking at raccoons, coyotes, birds, and all the other things they’ll see in Forest Park, Blunt Park, or Van Horn,” said Bloniarz. “It gives you a learning experience for life and to encourage you to do things to help out the community,” added 10-year-old Samara Abraham.

Click Here to learn more about the ‘Our City Forest’ program.

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