Canfield celebrates roots in tree program

By Jon Moffett

Canfield has been involved with the program for 28 years.

CANFIELD — Ohio has taken the idea of “going green” one step further, and Canfield is leading the way for Mahoning County.

Members of the Canfield Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Board presented Mayor William Kay with a flag honoring the city’s 28th year as a member of Tree City USA program at a ceremony Tuesday at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

According to the program’s Web site, Ohio has 249 communities involved, the most of any state.

“Tree City USA is a celebration of the values of trees,” said Nancy Brundage, secretary of the park board.

Brundage said a community must meet four criteria to become a member of Tree City USA.

“You have to have a board that oversees the trees,” she said. “You have to have a tree ordinance that tells you how you’re going to care for them; you also have to have at least $2 per capita for your population expenses and an Arbor Day celebration.”

Canfield had its Arbor Day celebration May 28 at a planting ceremony at C.H. Campbell Elementary School. The city planted a Norway red maple in front of the school.

Kay said the city’s tree tenure can be attributed to people such as Brundage, who do all they can to beautify the community.

“Our citizens and our committee work very hard to replace the trees that come down and replace them with new trees,” Kay said. “When you go to the statewide meetings, you see other communities and how much pride they have. To see that Canfield has done this now for 28 years means we’ve had some dedicated people working for us.”

Mark Eddy, park board chairman, replaced the “27 Years” stickers on the city’s entry signs. He said the beauty the trees provide makes the city look appealing to visitors.

“The support from the city, city council and the past park board members on a yearly basis to keep this designation is just great,” he said. “It shows the pride that we take in the community. ... It’s so important because I think it reflects the community as a whole on how we want to present ourselves to others as they drive through.”

In addition to aesthetic benefits, communities can also receive federal grant money for involvement.

The program’s Web site says, “Preference is sometimes given to Tree City USA communities over other communities when allocations of grant money are made for trees or forestry programs. The reason is that there are invariably more requests than available funds when grants are available through state or federal agencies. If requests are equally worthy, some officials tend to have more confidence in communities that have demonstrated the foresight of becoming a Tree City USA.”

Other communities, such as Canfield Township, have also made plans to become involved with the program. Eddy said more communities could — and should — jump on board.

“I think a lot of people don’t understand what Tree City USA is,” he said. “That’s why we’ve taken our Arbor Day presentation to the schools, to educate the younger children on how important trees and their uses are. ... Hopefully there will be other communities that have the same designation. It all depends on the money they have and the support of their community.”

jmoffett@vindy.com