State, local officials celebrate Arbor Day at Rehoboth Elementary

State, local and Cape district officials celebrated Arbor Day April 30 under the shade of a giant oak tree on the Rehoboth Elementary School campus.

An enthusiastic Gov. John Carney said he was fully vaccinated and happy to issue an Arbor Day proclamation in the City of Rehoboth, which received the Tree City USA award for the 30th year.

“One of my favorite bumper stickers, in terms of our personal responsibility to protect the environment, is ‘Think globally, but act locally,’” Carney said. “We can do something, each of us, to protect our environment, to address global warming, and to prepare a better world for all of us in the future. And one of the best things we can do is plant more trees.”

Fifth-grader Miranda Garcia was named Sussex County Grade 5 winner of the Delaware Forest Service Arbor Day School Poster Contest, and fourth- and fifth-grade school winners were also recognized. Miranda joined fifth-grade awardees Keiry Oliva Deleon and Ella Levy to water two new oak trees planted on campus. Rehoboth Art League’s Nick Serratore, who helped judge entries, said award-winning posters can be viewed through the windows at City Hall.  

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn Garvin told students that some people call them the environmental stewards of the future.

“And I’m the first person to stand up and say, actually, no,” Garvin said. “You are the environmental stewards of today. You are the ones who are pushing us and holding us accountable, because this is your future we’re talking about.”

State Forester Michael A. Valenti presented the Tree City USA award to Rehoboth Beach Mayor Stan Mills, who said Rehoboth may be known for its Boardwalk, but trees create the town’s identity and sense of community.

With the population growing, Valenti said, developers are targeting forests, and when they come down, they are rarely replaced. Trees are a renewable resource, he said, and communities need to manage them sustainably and grow more than are harvested. 

Arbor Day is celebrated in Delaware every year on the last Friday in April to celebrate trees and encourage tree planting. Delaware Department of Agriculture Forest Service has pledged to plant and conserve 1 million trees in the next decade as part of its pledge to 1t.org’s global goal of 1 trillion trees by 2030.