To the Editor:

The Princeton Borough Shade Tree Commission (PBSTC) would like to recognize and thank Polly Burlingham for her many years of service to this community through her involvement in the PBSTC. Many people may recognize Polly from her annual post at the Communiversity PBSTC Tent, where over the years she helped to hand out thousands of tree saplings to help celebrate Arbor Day, while also taking every opportunity to educate both the young and old on the proper care of Princeton trees. But behind the scenes is where Polly’s leadership as a commission member, and in recent years as the PBSTC chair, has impacted her fellow commission members and the community the most. Under Polly’s leadership the PBSTC has been awarded more than $10,000 in grants by the State Forestry Division, enabling this commission to write and act upon our state mandated second Five-year Forestry Plan. With her guidance we have met many of those initiatives, including the creation of the recently approved Borough tree ordinance and the development and inventorying of a tree database, which we use to monitor Princeton Borough tree diversity, condition, and plantings. Our new web-site www.pbshadetree.org has also been created under Polly’s watch, full of information on Borough trees, as well as information on educational programs for the public, such as the recent PBSTC tree walks. We wish Polly well as she steps down from her active role in this commission to pursue new and exciting interests with other very lucky local community organizations.

The Princeton Borough
Shade Tree Commission
Sharon Ainsworth, Welmoet Bok van Kammen,
Patricia Hyatt, Alexander Radbil, Marie Rickman,
Jenny Crumiller, Council Liaison