On Arbor Day in Brookfield, Javier Rayes told a Landmark reporter that he had moved to the village because of its trees. He made that statement as he stood under a canopy on a rainy Friday with his dog, Olive. They were watching as Village Forester Victor Janusz, a colleague Vincent Fraga and resident Elaine Jans were busy planting a pink-leafed galaxy magnolia in Candy Cane Park.
Janusz said he chose the tree and the location as he does each Arbor Day by considering spots in town that need more shade and more color. The park has no other magnolias and, he said, the park lost a few trees in recent years as areas of the park were upgraded.
This is the thoughtful way that an urban forest is built and nurtured over decades.
Over in Riverside, Arbor Day was celebrated at Ames Elementary School. It is there that Ryan Bookler, a fifth-grade teacher, worked again with Village Forester Michael Collins to plant a tree near the school.
This year, it was a bald cypress tree, and it was planted in the triangle park at Repton and Southcote roads.
Collins, David Kusnierz from SavATree and Tom Guardi of the Frederick Law Olmsted Society also sang with Ames schoolkids. It was a song, “Know Your Oaks,” which you may never have heard before, though you would have recognized the melody, which was hauntingly similar to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
These are simple and worthy efforts to recognize the role of trees in these two lovely towns. And credit to Bookler for his work over 12 years at Ames to involve his students in understanding the power and beauty of nature.