“Replace Our Trees” Update

Thanks to the generous donors to our Replace Our Trees Campaign, the Jonah Center is planting 22 street trees around the Middlesex YMCA (red maples, dogwoods, hawthorns and lindens), and along William Street and Church Street, north and south of the Traverse Square apartments (red maples, ginkgoes, and ornamental cherries), where the Middletown Housing Authority is contributing to the cost of the new plantings.

The City of Middletown’s increased tree-planting budget, recommended by the Jonah Center last spring and supported by many who sent emails to city officials, will result in approximately 150 new trees planted by the city, according to Urban Forestry Chairperson Jane Harris, who oversees the new tree-planting operations.

We extend hearty thanks and congratulations to all who helped reverse the severe loss of trees in Middletown in recent years by supporting these initiatives.

We will plant 3 trees in Portland (on private property) in early November. New trees on public property in Portland will be delayed until the fall of 2021, by which time we hope to obtain the Town’s agreement and permission regarding sites, species, underground utilities, sidewalks, and to insure that new trees will be watered.