It’s Arbor Day: How you can mark the day in West Michigan

Elena Cousino
·2 min read

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — You might see people outside today with gloves and shovels planting trees. That’s because Friday is Arbor Day.

Here are a few events happening Friday and this weekend:

  • Grand Rapids, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks at Martin Luther King Park | Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. | Volunteer registration is full

  • Free tree seedling pick up at Herrick District Library in Holland | Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

  • City of Wyoming Arbor Day Celebration | Saturday at 10 a.m. | Speech from the city’s mayor and student presentations.

Also Friday, the city of Wyoming will receive its designation as a ‘Tree City USA,’ with a plane flying a commemorative flag over Division Avenue at 28th Street.

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The event is being hosted by the city of Wyoming’s tree commission. Estelle Slootmaker, the chair of the commission, said its goal is to increase the tree canopy in the city to 40%. It is currently at 13.5%.

Slootmaker hopes hosting events like the Arbor Day celebration will help the city achieve that goal.

“I believe it really helps to build awareness of what a vital infrastructure trees are to our city. I think many of us grew up thinking, ‘Oh, trees are nice. You know, they’re a nice decoration and they’re part of the landscape.’ You know how things work, but they really are so vital in so many ways,” Slootmaker said.

The commission is looking for more volunteers and chair members.

The city of Portage added it has also again received the Tree City USA label from the Arbor Day Foundation. It says this is the 34th year it has been recognized.

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