25 years as a Tree City USA

Bluffton’s tree commission will be busy this spring as its on-going efforts reap recognition for the village.

Minutes from its March 22 reveal several activities underway in April.

Perhaps the most significant is that Bluffton will celebrate its quarter-century as a Tree City USA in April.

The Tree City presentations are April 18 in Upper Sandusky. The village will receive the Growth Award during the event. Joanne Antibus of the commission will give a presentation during the ceremony on the Bluffton Girl Scout’s tree labeling project in the village arboretum.

Through a grant, the commission was awarded 25 trees to plant in the village flood plain area by the Bluffton Community Swimming Pool. These trees replace the ash trees that were earlier removed.

Bluffton University was also awarded between 30 and 50 trees from the grant.

The commission members have offered an assortment of recommendations for trees to be planted on West Elm Street following that street’s renovation.

Among those suggestions include crimson sentry maple (purple leaves for the university area of Elm Street), red rocket maple, frans fontaine hornbeam, spire cherry, snow tower dogwood, heart throb dogwood, milkway dogwood, festigliata hornbeam, frontier elm, kwanzan cherry, rainbow pillar service berry, fire spire American hornbeam and Apollo sugar maple. Tree selection will be made later this spring.

A decision on this year’s Arbor Day ceremony will be made at the 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 10, commission meeting, held in the town hall.

Members of the tree commission are Jonathan Andreas, Joanne Antibus, Nancy Benroth, Becky Ramey, Jon Sommer with village representatives Ben Stahl and Jesse Blackburn.

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