Tom Powell organized what might be described as shady business on Thursday.
Powell was in charge of the Manteca Garden Club’s annual Arbor Day event that saw 19 trees such as oaks and sycamores planted at Rose Park in southwest Manteca.
“We try to pick out parks in need of shade trees,” noted club President Michele Newman.
Making shade in Manteca’s parks now numbering 80 and growing by two or more in the coming months has been the annual Arbor Day tradition going on three decades by the 68-member club.
Rose Park, when the club and city crews arrived on Thursday, had a small group of neighborhood women enjoying the fresh air and company, a grandfather-grandson taking advantage of the playground, and several people making perimeters walks around the park.
“COVID changed people’s perceptions of parks,” said newly minted Parks & Recreation/Transit Department Director Brandy Clark.
For years, neighborhood park usage in Manteca seemed limited to organized sports like soccer practice, kids using the playgrounds, birthday parties, and such.
Now it is common to see neighborhood parks used throughout the day by walkers, gathering with friends, or simply to enjoy the fresh air.
Neighborhood parks are taking on a bigger role in residents’ health and wellness routines as well as becoming more of community gathering places.
As such, nearby neighbors are taking greater pride in them.
Cody Dye, Manteca’s Park maintenance supervisor, noted one older neighborhood gentleman who routinely makes his way to “his bench” at Rose Park, alerted him to a crepe myrtle tree that had been vandalized that city crews then replaced.
The trees planted at Rose Park include 15 the club raised $1,700 to purchase and four that the city happened to have on hand.
A number were planted around the playground with the idea of generating future shade for kids when they play, especially in the valley’s sunny and warm spring to early fall season.
Parks Superintendent Cody Ross literally knows the value of the 14,000 trees city crews tend to in municipal parks as well as city street trees maintained with general fund revenue.
While the shade, eye appeal, carbon cleansing, oxygen generation, and heat reduction aspects are priceless, those 14,000 trees have an agate worth in money that exceeds $34 million.
That’s determined by a widely accepted methodology based on replacement costs.
Manteca’s robust effort to plant trees in new parks, its dedicated street and tree maintenance program, and community participation in Arbor Day events has earned the Manteca Tree City USA honors for the 35th consecutive year from the National Arbor Day Foundation.
Those 14,000 trees don’t include the golf course, those at neighborhood parks maintained through community facilities districts, or those in landscape maintenance districts.
Manteca Garden Club
has other projects
The Manteca Garden Club — besides monthly meetings where guest speakers offering tips on gardening and such —- has a wide array of community endeavors.
Included are:
*Upkeep of the community rose garden at the Manteca Senior Center where they recently replaced a tree.
*A half dozen four-by-eight foot planters at Lincoln School where students learn how to grow vegetables and a similar effort at the Thomas Toy Community Teen Center.
*Plans to maintain flower plantings the Downtown Business Improvement District is preparing to do using planters to add color to downtown Manteca streets.
The club was unable to secure enough host yards to conduct their annual garden tour this year.
To raise funds to help support their community projects, they are planning a Fagundes drive thru dinner June 17 for a $25 meal that incomes a quarter of a chicken, pork ribs, and sides.
Club officers are Michele Newman, president; Larry Newman, vice president; Chris Speegle, Vice President; Karen Stoffel, treasurer; Linda Schneider, recording secretary; Donna Crowe, corresponding secretary; and Paula Elias, parliamentarian.
Membership is $25 a year.
The club meets the third Monday at 1 p.m. at Chez Shari on the second floor of the Manteca golf course clubhouse.
For more details about the Manteca Garden Club, go to its Facebook page.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
