City of Lake Worth Annual Tree Festival

Lake Worth, FL – The Lake Worth City Tree Board announced that it will hold its 10th Annual Festival of Trees on Saturday, Jan 17, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Cultural Plaza, 414 Lake Avenue (between Lake and Lucerne Avenues on M Street.)

Admission is free and everyone is welcome.

“The Festival of Trees acts as a magnet for bringing people to the heart of our historic downtown,” said City of Lake Worth Horticulturalist, David McGrew, staff liaison to the board, “Nurseries with knowledge about native trees and plants and fruit trees will offer information, advice and trees and plants for sale at the Festival.”

The Festival of Trees not only provides Lake Worth residents, families, and visitors an opportunity to walk around the Cultural Plaza, check out various exhibitors and listen to live music, but also a chance to shop at stores and dine at restaurants in our charming downtown.

“For the first time ever at the Festival of Trees we are utilizing the Old Commission Room inside City Hall Annex for informative presentations and short films about nature, trees and plants,” added Richard Stowe, Tree Board Chair, “and at 11:30 a.m. bicyclists with binoculars will meet Gael Silverblatt, a Lake Worth birding enthusiast, in front of the Lake Worth Library 15 North M Street for a bike ride to bird watch at Snook Islands Natural Area.”

There will be live entertainment at the Festival of Trees again this year including a performance at 11:45 by Agwa Dance Company/Downtown Dance Lake Worth. In the afternoon accomplished musicians Jill Lurie, Tom Regis and Jon Zeeman will take the stage.

At 9 a.m. Colleen Greenhalgh will open the Festival with a free yoga class; a second class by Monica Hornung will follow at 10 a.m.

Local Lake Worth exhibitors include Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades, Amelia’s Smarty Plants, Gray Mockingbird Community Garden, Community Spirit, NAPC Front Porch and Dark Sky Lake Worth.

Other tree nurseries include Native Choice Nursery, GMG Tropical Fruits and D.R. Bates as well as Sustainscape, a company providing native landscaping services.

Some other exhibitors include Florida Native Plant Society Palm Beach County Chapter, North American Butterfly Association Palm Beach County Chapter, Florida Forest Service, Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Center, Pine Jog Environmental Education Center, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center and Mounts Botanical Garden.

Presentations and activities for kids will get a big push this year: elementary school children have been invited to present Got Shade drawings and the 4-H Club will have a table. The Audubon Society of the Everglades will assist children in making natural bird feeders. The Home Depot tent will also offer craft activities for kids.

The Old Commission Room at City Hall Annex will be open to the Festival from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for presentations and short films.

At 10:00 a.m., Carman Vare, Palm Beach County Environmental Program Supervisor, will give a presentation on Living Shoreline and other ERM Lake Worth Lagoon projects; at 10:30 a.m. Mark Torok of the Florida Forest Service will speak about Urban Forestry: Why Proper Pruning is Important in Lake Worth; at 11:00 a.m. Kristi Moyer, Facilities and Land Manager at FAU’s Pine Jog Environmental Education Center will give a talk - Right Tree, Right Place: Planting Natives in Lake Worth; Jeff Nurge’s presentation - Butterflies in South Florida and their Connection to Native Plants will take place at 11:30 a.m. and the final speaker Tara Bardi, the Senior Scientist at Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades, will conclude at 12:30 p.m. with a presentation entitled - The Future of the Everglades: What is at Stake.

Mayor Pam Triolo will read a proclamation at noon declaring January 17th Lake Worth Arbor Day. Following the reading of the proclamation, State Rep Mark Pafford and Executive Director of the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades, will speak about the progress and vision of the Marshall Foundation and its relationship with the City of Lake Worth.

The Lake Worth City Tree Board, whose members are volunteers appointed by City Commissioners and the Mayor, is one of a number of advisory boards which provide assistance to the City Commission. The Tree Board meets the second Thursday of each month; members of the public are encouraged to attend.

Contact David McGrew
561-586-1677
dmcgrew@lakeworth.org