Every year, the City of Auburn Hills celebrates Arbor Day as part of our commitment to being a Tree City USA. The City earns the Tree City USA designation from the National Arbor Day Foundation by investing in tree planting, maintenance and care. Forestry initiatives improve our community by helping to absorb the sounds of traffic, reducing energy costs by shading buildings and protecting them from winter winds, improving the mental and physical health of our residents, absorbing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and keeping our community an attractive place to live and work.

This year, Arbor Day was April 28th, but we took a raincheck and celebrated one week later under blue, sunny skies on May 5th! Maestra Estrada and Mrs. Knutson’s second grade classes from Oakland Christian School joined us in planting an Autumn Blaze Maple Tree on school grounds. Tim Wisser, Manager of Municipal Properties, shared fun facts about the significance of trees in our community and the students had the opportunity to ask engaging questions about trees and the environment. Assisted by our Department of Public Works, the students took turns shoveling dirt over the tree roots.

The young tree will grow to 50 feet tall and can live to 100 years. We planted a tree, but we also hope we planted some seeds to expand awareness and encourage our community to nurture trees.

Thank you to all the students and staff at Oakland Christian School who helped us celebrate! 

Lisa Passalacqua, Community Engagement Manager and Tim Wisser, Manager of Municipal Properties