RI Tree to Celebrate Arbor Day 2024 at Brayton Park in Cranston

Rhode Island Arbor Day will be celebrated on Friday, April 26, 2024, at the Joseph Ventetuolo Recreational Complex, Brayton Avenue, Cranston, also known as Brayton Avenue Park. The celebration starts at 11:00 am with welcoming remarks from Cranston’s Mayor Ken Hopkins, and the Honorable Jack Reed, United States Senator. The Honorable Dan McKee, Governor of Rhode Island, will read the Rhode Island Arbor Day Proclamation. The public is invited to this free event.

Other activities will follow: They include poetry readings, tree plantings, and an awards ceremony. Students from Oakland Elementary School will perform poems highlighting the benefits of trees. Also, the National Arbor Day Foundation will honor fifteenth Rhode Island municipalities and two colleges for their commitment to urban forestry.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Terry Gray will present the awards. Capping the day’s event will be the traditional Tree Planting Ceremony. RI Tree will plant seven saplings-sugar maple, red maple, and Western arborvitae to beautify the park.

Arbor Day is the ‘tree holiday’ celebrated in the United States, and it recognizes the importance of trees. Rhode Island has a long and proud tradition of commemorating Arbor Day dating back to 1887. This year’s event will mark the 137th Anniversary of Rhode Island Arbor Day.

The Rhode Island Tree Council has been a leader in organizing the Rhode Island Arbor Day Program since 1998. T

his year, the Tree Council has had the help of several key partners, without whom this annual endeavor would not have been possible. We appreciate and acknowledge their generous support. They are the United States Forest Service, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and the Rhode Island Energy Company.