Tackling Trees on the Green and Adding Flowers around Chester

Chester Townscape, known formerly as the Chester Beautification Committee, has continued to improve the appearance of the town by working with dedicated volunteers, organizations, and Town departments.

On Thursday, May 21, as arranged by Chester Townscape, Instructor John Harmer and seven very competent and professional horticulture students at the River Valley Technical Center in Springfield gave the first in a series of pruning sessions to trees on Chester's Village Green. Seniors Josh Blish, Joe Epler, Hunter Royce, Jarrett Sanderson, and Dillon Seeley and juniors Josh Hoy and Bridick Pollard came over between classes, put on their climbing gear, and in just over an hour cleaned several trees of dead and intersecting branches at the south end of the Green. They stacked the debris, promised to return to do more work in the future, and hopped back on their white bus to return to classes.

Immediately Town of Chester employees arrived with the Town chipper to remove the brush, thereby leaving the Green looking refreshed and more open for Memorial weekend visitors.

June 5 saw Chester Townscape committee member planting impatiens among the leaves of the daffodils that had provided such a glorious spring display of color along the high stone wall bordering the Brookside Cemetery, Hearse House, and Public Tomb opposite the Village Green. Those flowers will provide continuous beauty until frost.

On June 8 Chester Townscape committee members trimmed junipers in the long planter between the Sunoco station and the Country Girl Diner and planted ever-blooming yellow Stella Doro daylilies that had been donated by Jonathan and Carrol Otto. The plants should provide continuing color as soon as they are established and happy in their new surroundings.

The most recent Townscape beautification project was the creation of six wooden planters - designed by John Russell of Chester and built by Sunshine Acres - that now adorn the Route 103 bridge over the Williams River on the way from Chester Depot to the Stone Village. The boxes will be watered by Jessie and Michael Alon of DaVallia and helpful neighbors.

These varied projects show what a relatively new energizing organization, such as Chester Townscape, can do with support from volunteers, businesses, schools, and Town Departments - all working to enhance the town of Chester and increase its appeal and economic sustainability for the benefit of residents, businesses, and visitors.

Caption for photo of student pruning tree on the Chester Village Green: Joe Epler, wearing a safety harness, prunes dead wood from a tree on Chester's Village Green. Six other students from River Valley Technical Center in Springfield were involved in the pruning project, which was under the direction of Instructor John Harmer.