At the 2015 Annual Meeting and Conference of the New England Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (NE-ISA), held in North Conway, NH, Regreen Springfield was recognized with this years Gold Leaf Award.  The ISA Gold Leaf Award is designed to recognize an individual, organization, or  community in the New England Chapter for outstanding community landscape beautification projects. This is an opportunity for the NEC-ISA to recognize projects that have had an impact on a community or region with an international award.

The Gold Leaf award is intended to recognize individuals, organizations, or municipalities that have made significant contributions through tree planting and landscaping which enhances environmental protection, conservation,
beautification, air purification, or wildlife protection. Regreen Springfield’s dedication to improve the urban forest and environmental quality of Springfield’s neighborhoods was cited as key in the selection of this year’s recipient.

In addition to Regreen Springfield, David Bloniarz, President of the organization was recognized for his efforts to improve Springfield’s urbanized landscapes.

Over 50 volunteers planted 47 new shade trees in and along the streets surrounding Magazine Park in Springfield’s McKnight Neighborhood on October 21st.  The effort, which was part of the TD Bank Tree Days, in which over 1,500 new trees were planted within their service area during October.

Each volunteer had a job, whether it was digging the holes, planting the trees, or even making sure the trees got provided enough drinking water. According to Edward Casey, City Forester, “We have the volunteers get the trees in the ground we’ll have a crew come through and mulch them and than we’ll come back and put a tree gauge around them a watering reservoir that will add 20 gallons of water after the planting.”  He added, “Regreen Springfield and TD Bank have been great partners over the years in helping regreen the city.”

Matt Maguire, TD Bank Retail Mark Manager for the Greater Springfield Region, said “Research says that communities are safer, reducing energy, lower costs for homes, and just makes it a better city.”

This effort is one of a continued series of tree planting projects undertaken this year by Regreen Springfield and its partners.