The Front Royal/Warren County Tree Stewards is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The organization has been in existence since 1997 and began with just 13 members. The work and hours volunteered by the Tree Stewards each year help Front Royal fulfill requirements to be a qualified member of Tree City USA over 24 years. Education programs are offered to residents of Warren and nearby counties.
Mission
The mission of the Front Royal/Warren County Tree Steward program is to increase public awareness of the intrinsic value and beauty of trees, to learn and understand the needs of the community forest, to help the Town of Front Royal and the County of Warren in caring for the community’s publicly planted trees (especially young trees), to educate other residents of the community about urban forestry, and to involve additional community members in creating and caring for community tree plantings.
Meetings
Meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of each month at 6 pm at Samuels Public Library.
Executive Committee 2023
- Melody Hotek, President
- Henry Pickard, Vice President
- Vicki Althaus, Treasurer
- Emily Huttar, Secretary
Board of Directors at Large
- Joan Brubaker
- John Cermak
- Cheryl Crabbe
- Joan Grewe
- David Means
- Ron Perlik
2023 Annual Report
IIn 2023 the Tree Stewards began their 26th year. We continue to partner with the Town’s Arborist, Jim Osborn and work closely with ACES. We supported their projects and worked approximately 1400 hours at the Happy Creek Arboretum, County Parks and at Samuels Library. We held classes and participated in outreach events.
Education
In September we held the All About Trees Class with approximately 17 students enrolled including 3 Town employees. The format was a hybrid of online learning and hands-on experiences and field trips culminating in the planting of the class tree at the Soccer/Skateboard complex. Each class is led by a Certified Arborist or an expert in the field and the course materials are provided by Trees Virginia. The Course Description is found on our website: https://treesfrontroyal.org/all-about-trees-class-2/
Trees, Trees and more Trees
Here are the highlights… March and April are always a busy time at the Happy Creek Arboretum sprucing it up with new mulch, pruning trees and readying the Pollinator Garden in preparation for the Annual Arbor Day/Earth Day celebrations. On Arbor Day we staffed a booth at the ACES event and handed out trees to the citizens of Front Royal. We planted a Red Maple behind the pavilion for Arbor Day. In May we supported the planting of Redbuds at Skyline HS. In the summer we joined in to provide funds and labor to install a fence along the Royal Shenandoah Greenway to prevent litter from getting into Happy Creek. Pruning and tree maintenance continued throughout the year at Samuels Library, Burrell Brooks and Eastham Parks. In November we joined forces to distribute 360 trees, paid for by a grant from the Department of Forestry, to the community in honor of Veteran’s Day increasing the tree canopy for the County. All in addition to our regular maintenance of the Happy Creek Arboretum and local parks. We already have big plans for 2024!
Outreach
In April we had a booth at the Arbor Day/Earth Day celebration held downtown at the Gazebo along with over 40 participants focused on Environment issues. We also supported Samuels Library at the Annual Fundraiser – A Taste for Books with a table of goodies in the theme of the event. This unique outreach event affords us the opportunity to meet new people and introduce our organization in a really fun venue. In June we always participate with the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners at their GardenFest. People come from far and wide to this anticipated event to purchase plant material and pick our brains. In October we joined the fun at the Fall Festival of Leaves and had a good turnout despite the rain. The kids favorite is our Trees ‘R Cool Wheel – a chance for them to spin the wheel, answer a tree question and walk away with a really cool prize. Then in November it was the Veteran’s Day event mentioned
The Tree Stewards byline is Volunteers for the Community Forest and for those of us who volunteer as Tree Stewards, we can’t think of a better way to spend a few hours than maintaining trees or talking about them. We all appreciate this beautiful place that we call home and want to share what we know with all of you!
When you see us around town, be sure to stop and say hi.
If you’d like to join in the fun, please reach out and be sure to visit our website www.treesfrontroyal.org to learn more.