CHRIS FOX PHOTO
The Village of Villa Park observed Arbor Day—Friday, April 29—by planting a Quercus macrocarpa (bur oak) tree just north of the Illinois Prairie Path, near Central Boulevard and Addison Avenue. The Villa Park Environmental Concerns Commission donated the tree for the Arbor Day planting. Pictured (left to right) at the planting ceremony are: Villa Park Village Trustee Christine Murphy, Villa Park Village President Nick Cuzzone, Joe Amore—a member of the Villa Park Environmental Concerns Commission, Villa Park Interim Village Manager Michael Guerra, Robert Wagner—the chair of the Villa Park Environmental Concerns Commission, Villa Park Public Library Director (and member of the Environmental Concerns Commission) Sandra Hill, Kandice Krettler—the library’s deputy director and head of circulation and outreach services, and Villa Park Interim Public Works Director Rich Salerno. Moments before the group posed for this photo, Cuzzone read the proclamation that he read during the Villa Park Village Board meeting on April 25. That proclamation noted that 150 years ago, in 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed that a special day—to be known as Arbor Day—be set aside for planting trees. National Arbor Day is celebrated on the last Friday in April. Illinois also observes the last Friday in April as Arbor Day. Some other states observe Arbor Day on different dates. The National Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Villa Park with Tree City USA designation for 37 straight years. To receive that recognition, a community must have a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program and an Arbor Day observance.
