Newtown Borough Celebrates The Environment At Arbor Day Event

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — Newtown celebrated its trees on April 19 with the help of first and fifth grade students from Goodnoe Elementary School.

Held at Brian Gregg Memorial Park on North Congress Street, the town's annual Arbor Day celebration presented by the Newtown Borough Recreation Board included learning stations, music, games and lots and lots of animals.

Eco-man (Philadelphia educator Richard McLaughlin), an Arbor Day mainstay, returned this year to lead the children in songs about the environment, including what has become Newtown Arbor Day’s unofficial anthem - “Reduce. Re-use. Recycle.”

Eco-Man is a regular at Newtown's Arbor Day.

Kids decorate bags at the Rotary Club table to take home some fresh herb plants.

Not far away, members of the Newtown Rotary Club were busy giving out herbs raised by students in the Council Rock Achieve program. At the Rotary station, the kids also decorated paper bags to take home their herbs.

"The kids are excited that they get to take something home to plant," said Rotary Club President Mick Petrucci. "And we're excited to be here today and proud to be a sponsor. It's always a pleasure seeing all the children, the parents, and the teachers. Everybody's happy. It's an excellent community event."

This year’s event not only celebrated the trees, it also showcased many of the animals who live in and among the trees, including a snake, several turtles and an Iguana.

Two educators from the Barn Nature Center - Reilly Lees and Gabbie - made the trip down from the Doylestown area to introduce the kids to Lizzy, a green iguana, and a slithering red scaled boa named Pepper, who had the kids mesmerized.

Reilly Lees, the education coordinator at the Barns Nature Center in Doylestown, shows off Lizzy, a green iguana.

Gabbie shows off a red scaled boa named Pepper.

Getting in tune with nature at the Yoga station.

The kids also heard from an arborist from Davey Expert Tree Co., communed with nature through a yoga session and created chalk drawings on the parking lot.

They also learned about several unusual animals, including a South American racoon, a Patagonian mara from South America and Little Joey the kangaroo. Charis Matey with the Peaceable Kingdom Petting Zoo brought the animals to show and tell.

"This is always a wonderful event and we're thrilled to have Goodnoe Elementary celebrate this special day with us," said Recreation Board chair Tracey Osecki. "I'd like to thank all the people who had a role in putting this together."

At the end of the two-hour adventure, the kids gathered on the lawn to continue the celebration of the environment with songs, poster awards and the presentation of Arbor Day proclamations.

Newtown’s Arbor Day celebration was started by the late Peter A. Chesner who was a long time member of the Newtown Borough Shade Tree Commission. He was responsible for planting the Bradford Pear trees that continue to bloom every spring along historic State Street.

Council Rock Superintendent Dr. Andy Sanko joins Newtown Borough Recreation Board leaders in congratulating this year's year's poster contest winners. First grade winners are Olivia Lancia, Oliver Marin and Ella Billmann. Fifth grade winners are Fiona Storey, Siddhant Kamath and Christian Geist. (Tara Grunde-McLaughlin)

Checking out Joey the kangaroo at the Peaceable Kingdom station.