April 2021

Spring is here. I am not the only one looking forward to the blossom appearing on our trees, before the foliage will start. Then Old Man Winter will be out of sight and the “Greening” of our village will begin again. I have always enjoyed the First of May song from the BeeGees: “The apple tree grew for you and me...” sounding for me, a city girl, so desirable. Imagine a tree you can call your own. Some countries have this tradition of planting a tree to welcome a newborn into this world. As has been documented in the Talmud, in Israel a baby girl will be welcomed by planting a pine, cypress or acacia tree. For baby boys a cedar sapling will be planted. The parents symbolize their hope this way- that their child will grow, blossom and strike roots, demonstrating sensitivity to the wonders of nature. Then also the parents wish for their child to get married and use the top branches of their tree to be used as the canopy, needed in the Jewish wedding ceremony. The Jewish National Fund has maintained this tradition of planting a tree in honor of a newborn. In China it has been for a long time a custom to plant an empress tree for a newborn. What if one lives in an apartment? There are beautiful options: A: Plant a tree on line:”Tree for me” campaign Nat. Forest Foundation. B: Heifer International: Gift saplings to a family in need. C: Relatives can plant a tree for your child who gets the certificate. This month, Earth Day will be celebrated in our Village. Ideas have traveled around to plant thousands of trees, to celebrate Earth Day, but also to support the fight against Climate Change. We ARE The TREE Town with a TREE Board. Several planting actions are scheduled in the Village. The Village Board has happily encouraged the planting of “Ten Thousands of Trees” by the Village Tree Board . You may have read about this in last week’s Advertiser. EACC, the church on the corner of Main and Grove, with the Tree of life Barn Quilt on the facade, is actively involved with care for the environment.
As a small but growing church, they will welcome the newest addition to their Church family, with a gift of a small tree sapling. This will take place during a future dedication service for a baby girl. Not only will she learn the benefits of a tree, with sequestration of co2, but she also be able to care for it, compare growing spurts, and enjoy the shade of her tree buddy. EACC church is excited to start this old tradition in the village. Maybe other places of worship might do the same or will get a new interest in this. This month the congregation will again celebrate with two other churches on EARTH DAY, as they did last year.
Together with other municipalities we will become stronger in the fight against Climate Change. As an ACES Board member, I can not be more pleased with this decision of tree planting. Any neighbor can hear me happily whistling the BeeGees song in my yard now that Spring is definitely here. -Submitted by Jeannet de Jong
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