Rochester celebrates Arbor Day with freshly-planted trees

ROCHESTER – Outside the Rochester Council on Aging, 12 freshly-planted trees – seven holly and five juniper – were dedicated to commemorate Arbor Day on Friday, April 26.

The trees were planted by Rochester Tree Warden Jeff Eldridge, said Rochester Land Trust President Matthew Monteiro.

Earlier in the day, said Monteiro, Eldridge also sent 575 small trees to Rochester Memorial School students on behalf of the town. The trees included white oak, holly and blue spruce.

“It’s good to get the kids excited about nature and trees,” said Monteiro.

At the Arbor Day ceremony Monteiro read aloud from a poem by Rebecca Neal.

“What is a tree?” he asked, reading from the poem. “An oxygen maker, a flood abater, a carbon absorber … a wind breaker, a wood maker, a natural sculpture, just outside the front door.”

But the trees outside the Rochester Council on Aging do even more than all that. At the base of each tree is a plaque dedicated to people who helped make the Council on Aging what it is today.

One holly tree was dedicated to Paul Ouellette, the first custodian at the Rochester Council on Aging who died in 2004, said his wife Audrey Ouellette.

“We were here for the planting of the tree, and to me … it was emotional,” said Audrey Ouellette.