Students display the village’s 34th Tree City USA flag, part of the Arbor Day Foundation tradition
By Kathryn Ross
WELLSVILLE – Arbor Day saw a familiar tradition take place on the grounds of the elementary school in Wellsville.
Over 100 spectators gathered around a small tree and listened as members of the fifth grade classes recited poems and facts about the holiday. The head of the village tree board, board members, teachers and Deputy Mayor Ed Fahs and DEC Officer Mattie Burke were in the crowd.
It was a celebration of the first Arbor Day, which took place in 1872 in Nebraska when 1,000,000 trees were planted on the plains at the urging of J. Sterling Morton. He was born in Watertown, NY and moved to Nebraska as a boy. The first official national celebration of Arbor Day took place in 1885. It has been celebrated in Wellsville for the last 34 years by the fifth-grade classes and members of the Village of Wellsville Tree Board.
The board was founded in 1991 and monitors trees in the village. Current President of the board, Susan Duke explained, they watch over the trees, their health and welfare, inspect them and advise property owners on the best location of new trees. They also routinely prune and plant trees throughout the village.
Duke told the crowd there are 1,070 trees in the village. The most common are the Norway Maple along with other varieties of Maples. Maples make up 48.5-percent of the tree population in the village.
On Arbor Day 2025, with the help of the village Public Works Department Director Dean Arnold, a Japanese Maple was planted on the west side of the front yard of the elementary school complex. The school, along with Island Park, is where most of the ceremonial Arbor Day trees have been planted over the last 34 years.
As part of the celebration a poster contest was held. Mason Russo’s artwork was selected as the winner. His poster was framed and will hang in the village office for the next year, before it is returned to him.
Sixteen students relayed facts about Arbor Day, trees, read original poetry and recited information about Morton to the group. Deputy Mayor Ed Fahs, whose grandchildren were in the classes, read a proclamation from the village board, which “urges all citizens to support efforts to care for our trees and woodlands and to support our Village’s Forestry Program.”
With Duke explaining the proper care of the Japanese Maple, the students finished planting the tree, on their knees, getting their hands in the dirt and replacing the sod. The tree will grow to be 15 to 20 feet tall and provide a large, shaded area.
DEC Forest Technician, Mattie Burke, a native of Wellsville, presented the 2025 Tree City USA flag to the community. She recalled speaking at the traditional Arbor Day celebration in Wellsville as a fifth grader. When asked by a student, she remembered the tree her class planted is in Island Park.
