“Our Operations Coordinator Byron De Rose has a bit of a green thumb himself and spearheaded this idea. It’s based off what some other teams are doing. It just seemed like an easy way to be able to make a difference in the community environmentally.”
Member of the Belleville Senators organization, Quinte Conservation and students from St. Theresa planted 250 trees in Riverside Park on the east side of the Moira River Thursday, May 13, 2023 as part of the Senators’ inaugural Break-A-Stick, Plant-A-Tree initiative. (Photo: Belleville Senators)
“So we had a mix of some oak and maples. We had some pine, a little bit of balsam fir, some spruce and then we put in a number of flowering shrubs and as well and so we really like to aim for a diversity of native species whenever we go in and restore areas.”
Navrot says the trees were planted in an area where several ash trees that were impacted by the emerald ash borer had to be cut down.
“So that’s another reason we’re always putting in the diversity of species now. We want to make sure that our urban forests across the region are as resilient as possible. When you just have one species and a disease or a virus or a bug comes in, it can wipe out all of those in one shot.”
Belleville Senators coach David Bell. (Photo: Belleville Senators)
Prior to the planting, City of Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis, Belleville Senators Senior Vice President of Business Operations Breanne Matthews, and Quinte Conservation Chief Administrative Officer Brad McNevin shared their remarks on the positive environmental impact.
“It’s about our environment, and what a recognition for the Senators to do a Break-A-Stick, Plant-A-Tree initiative,” said Ellis. “Thank you for helping. It means a lot, and hopefully, in ten years, we’re driving by, and we’ll see a whole forest here.”
