CAMDEN — On Friday, April 26, 2024, at 1 p.m., the Town of Camden will hold its 28th Arbor Day observance by planting a new tree at the corner of Oak Street and Mechanic Street. At this planting location, the Town celebrates the partnership it has undertaken with residents to improve our urban forest.

Trees are assets to a community when properly planted and maintained. They help improve the visual appeal of a neighborhood, increase property values, reduce home cooling costs, remove air pollutants and provide wildlife habitat, among many other benefits.

This year’s celebration will also highlight the Town’s gratitude to the Camden Garden Club for its many years of sponsoring the Town’s annual planting of street shade trees. The Camden Garden Club’s tree planting program started in the mid 1970s following the widespread and catastrophic loss of town elm trees. Without their faithful yearly spring plantings, we would not have the town as we know it, shaded and graced with green. 

The Town of Camden itself, with the efforts of the Public Works Department, Camden’s Tree Warden Dave St. Laurent, and with Conservation Commission assistance, continues to plant and maintain the urban forest. In 2022, Camden planted 77 trees throughout the town, which represents the largest planting of public street trees since 1995; last year the town planted 47 trees. The Public Works department cares for and maintains the new plantings, often with the assistance of the property owners who have welcomed the new shade trees planted in the town’s right of way at their property.

The Camden Conservation Commission, which was reconstituted in August 2022, serves as the official town Tree Board and Arbor Day organizers. Arbor Day is also a celebration of Camden's recognition as a Tree City USA, a title it has held since 1996, with the exception of a two-year pause during COVID.  The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. Camden again has achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

The public is encouraged to attend the event, which will take place rain or shine. There will be speakers, and food and refreshments will be provided.