The Ocean City Shade Tree Committee recognized Arbor Day on Friday as the holiday’s founder intended: by planting trees.
Committee members Mike Lehman, Mary Lou Hayes, Rick Mendham, Steve Wajda and Chairperson Joe Clark were on hand as city workers planted thundercloud plum trees on a mid-street island at the intersection of Harbor Road and Northpoint Road and at Ocean City Intermediate School.
Amber Wira’s sixth-grade science class participated in the ceremonial planting at the Intermediate School.
The thundercloud plum is a fast-growing tree with red foliage and pink or white flowers in the spring. It grows up to 25 feet tall.
WHEREAS, in 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees; and
WHEREAS, this holiday, called Arbor Day, was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska, and
WHEREAS, Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world; and
WHEREAS, trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife, and
WHEREAS, trees are a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and beauty to our community; and
WHEREAS, trees, wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal,
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Jay A. Gillian, Mayor of the City of Ocean City, New Jersey, hereby proclaim April 25, 2014, as Arbor Day in the City of Ocean City, and I urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands, and
FURTHER, I urge all citizens to plant trees to promote the well-being of this and future generations.
