Village of Greenfield, OH

Tree Commission Chairman Ron Coffey (right) accepts Greenfield’s Tree City USA award during the Southwest Ohio Tree City USA Banquet April 29 in Springdale.

Sign at the SR 41 entrance to Greenfield commemorates the village’s eight years as a Tree City USA community.

For the eighth consecutive year, the Village of Greenfield has been named a Tree City USA community for its efforts to plant and promote trees.

Ron Coffey, chairman of the local Tree Commission, accepted the award April 29 at Springdale as communities from southwest Ohio gathered for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation in 2020.

The 2022 ceremony marked the 50^th anniversary of the National Arbor Day Foundation, and host city Springdale provided lunch and an interesting program by Marc DeWerth, who travels throughout Ohio searching for and documenting impressive trees for his Facebook page, Big Trees Ohio. Marc has photographed, measured and helped these giants in many ways, from clearing vines and undergrowth to getting recognition for the trees as state and national champions for their species.

Springdale representatives also outlined plans for developments in the city that will result in hundreds of new trees being planted over the next several years.

In order to be recognized as a Tree City USA community, Greenfield had to show evidence of compliance with the Arbor Day Foundation’s requirements, including tree commission meetings, a proclamation and observance of Arbor Day, and expenditures of at least $2 per capita in the community.

In 2021 the tree commission planted six trees in downtown Greenfield and invited ODNR urban forester Wendi Van Buren to take a look at the Greenfield Cemetery and assess the health of the trees there. Van Buren identified more than 20 trees that need to be taken down and others that can be spruced up with some trimming and tender loving care. She also made suggestions for planting trees there, and the tree commission and village leadership are considering a memorial tree program for the cemetery, which is something of a community park.

On Arbor Day for the past three years, members of the Tree Commission gave away tree seedlings to the public.

If anyone would like to make a donation to help plant more trees in Greenfield, donations may be made payable to the Greenfield Foundation, P.O. Box 420, Greenfield, OH 45123 with “Trees” in the memo line. Donations are tax deductible.

Members of the Greenfield Tree Commission are Patsy Smith, Angela Shepherd, Holly Ellinger, Kandy Wilson and Ron Coffey.

 

Tree Commission members are pictured with various recipients of white spruce seedlings given away during Arbor Day on April 22, 2022.