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Lewes celebrates Arbor Day with tree planting

City officials, volunteers and tree lovers met at George H.P. Smith Park in Lewes April 15 for an Arbor Day celebration and tree planting. Shown are (l-r) Councilman Rob Morgan; Dennis Davison, parks and rec commissioner in charge of Smith Park; Linda Davison, Lewes in Bloom; Mayor Ted Becker; Dionne Duphily, urban forester; Councilwoman Bonnie Osler; John Hanson, Lewes in Bloom; Kesha Braunskill, urban forester coordinator with state Department of Agriculture Forest Service; Bear McLean, streets department; Mardi Thompson, Lewes tree commissioner; Councilman Dennis Reardon; Alison Kirk, projects officer and parks and rec commission chair; Paul Eckrich, city manager; Dennis Crawford, Lewes in Bloom; and Ronnie Kowalski, arborist representative with Bartlett Tree Experts. BY NICK ROTH
Nick Roth
April 20, 2016
Lewes Mayor Ted Becker welcomes the crowd to the Arbor Day celebration and tree-planting demonstration. BY NICK ROTH
Ronnie Kowalski of Bartlett Tree Experts offers tips to ensure a tree is properly cared for and lives a long life. BY NICK ROTH
Kesha Braunskill, a senior forester and urban forest coordinator with the state, answers questions about trees and tree planting. BY NICK ROTH

Lewes officials celebrated Arbor Day in the city April 15 with a tree-planting demonstration in George H.P. Smith Park. Lewes city officials and members of Lewes in Bloom were on hand as Kesha Braunskill, urban forestry coordinator with the state Department of Agriculture, and Bartlett Tree Experts arborist Ronnie Kowalski explained the proper method for planting a tree.

Arbor Day will be celebrated nationwide Friday, April 29.

Lewes has been honored by the Arbor Day Foundation with a Tree City USA designation for 2016, the 15th consecutive year for the city. Tree City USA recognition was achieved by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board commissioner, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

The city passed a resolution in 2011 to increase the city forest canopy density from 27 percent to 35 percent by 2021. To reach that goal, the city worked with Bartlett Tree Experts on a management plan and tree inventory program, and uploaded the data into a tree management software program called ArborScope.

More than 800 city trees have been inventoried and each has a bronze numbered tag on it. A person can learn more about a particular tree such as its species, age and health just by entering the tag number into the ArborScope program at dddi.org/bartlett/bis/ArborScope/mapDisplay.cfm?id=0CC8C3.

The tree planted at the April 15 celebration was given tag No. 829 and will be added to the inventory.

 

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Nick Roth is the news editor. He has been with the Cape Gazette since 2012, previously covering town beats in Milton and Lewes. In addition to serving on the editorial board and handling page layout, Nick is responsible for the weekly Delaware History in Photographs feature and enjoys writing stories about the Cape Region’s history. Prior to the Cape Gazette, Nick worked for the Delmarva Media Group, including the Delaware Wave, Delaware Coast Press and Salisbury Daily Times. He also contributed to The News Journal. Originally from Boyertown, Pa., Nick attended Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania, graduating in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He’s won several MDDC awards during his career for both writing and photography. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, going to the beach with his family and cheering for Philadelphia sports teams. 

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