Mayor Richard J. Kos is pleased to announce that the City of Chicopee will hold its annual Arbor Day celebration on Friday May 5, 2017 at 10:00AM. The celebration will include the planting of 3 Hybrid American Elm trees at Fairview Park behind Fairview Memorial Elementary School.

The Elms are 3 of over 200 trees that will be or have been planted this year in the City including 100 trees planted along Fairview Avenue earlier this spring. Most of the new tree plantings will take place as part of the City’s continuance of the Greening the Gateway Cities program through the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and following the completion of road, sidewalk and sewer work at various locations. Tree species are selected for appropriateness of site conditions, their resistance to diseases, ability to tolerate roadside conditions and to increase shade and aesthetics.

In addition to the tree plantings, Chicopee will also celebrate its twenty-fourth consecutive year as a Tree City USA. The Tree City USA award is given annually by the National Arbor Day Foundation to communities that work to promote tree care and planting.

“The City of Chicopee is proud to maintain its efforts to continue to make our City green! I thank our City departments and citizens for their efforts,” said Mayor Kos.

The Tree City USA award was made possible through the cooperative partnership among the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Engineering and Planning Departments, Department of Public Works, the Forestry Department, and the Department of Parks and Recreation for their tree related efforts in 2016.

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