On Arbor Day, 2014 Ronald Lee’s sixth grade science class at Smalley School in Bound Brook participated in a tree planting in the front of the school. Edward Gordon II, Principal of the school, and Raul Nieves, Director of Buildings and Grounds, worked with the Bound Brook Shade Tree Commission to arrange the event.
Marsha Longshore, Bound Brook Shade Tree Commissioner, gave a lesson on the importance of trees and highlighted two historic trees in Bound Brook. The first tree, the Council Oak is over 350 years old and is where Bound Brook settlers reached an agreement to acquire land from two Indian chiefs in 1681. The second is the Space Shuttle white pine, which was grown from seed that had flown over 1.5 million miles in space on the space shuttle Columbia on its April, 1997 flight. It was planted in Bound Brook on Arbor Day, 2012.
Following the lesson, the class went to the school yard where they helped to plant the new tree. Shade Tree Commissioner Nancy Lepionka read a proclamation by Mayor Hasting declaring Friday, April 25, 2014 Arbor Day in Bound Brook. Commissioner Mary Patten demonstrated the correct way to plant and mulch a tree and each student had the opportunity to add soil around the root ball of the newly planted tree. Commissioners, Xue Du and Nancy Campbell, gave a pencil personalized with “Bound Brook Shade Trees” to each student. The commissioners also provided Douglas Fir seedlings for students to plant at home.
The tree, mulch and top soil were donated for the event by the Bridgewater Home Depot.
The Bound Brook Shade Tree Commission, a volunteer group that manages the trees in the town’s right-of-ways and parks, organized this Arbor Day celebration. The commission meets the third Thursday of the month at Borough Hall. Town residents with an interest in trees and nature who are willing to help their town are encouraged to join. Call 732-469-9327 if interested.