2011 Mayor’s Urban Forestry Volunteer Award Winners

2011 Mayor’s Urban Forestry Volunteer Award Winners

Sponsored by the RNeighborWoods program, the Mayor’s Urban Forestry Volunteer Award was created to recognize amazing citizens, for outstanding contributions to Rochester’s urban forest. There are three categories for these awards including adult, youth and business.

2011 Mayor’s Urban Forestry Volunteer Award Winners

  • Adult: Mary Gorfine
  • Youth: Zoë Masterpole
  • Business: Maier Forest and Tree

These awards will be presented by Mayor Brede at the Environmental Awareness Month Proclamation, Friday, April 1, 9 am at the Mayo Civic Center Outdoor Pavilion, behind the Rochester Art Center. In the case of rain the event will be moved to the Rotunda of the Government Center.

Mary Gorfine has served on the RNeighborWoods committee since March 2006. She has been a continual voice for Rochester youth as the Director of the Youth Commission, as well as using her talents to help form a strategic plan for the volunteer committee. Mary gets the word out to the local schools and at each community tree planting, no matter what the weather is like, she is there smiling and greeting the youth who come out in droves. At the last spring community tree planting in the Manorwoods neighborhood over 300 youth attended and helped get 500 trees planting in one morning.

Zoë Masterpole is extremely active in the Rochester community. A sophomore at John Marshall she has been active in our tree planting program since 2005.  Zoë was one of Rochester’s first (and youngest) Citizen Foresters and has participated in the RNeighborWoods community tree plantings since March 2006. She continually steps up to lead groups and ensure that each boulevard tree gets planted properly. As a youth Citizen Forester Zoë helped make trees seem “cool” to youth in Rochester.

Jay Maier was one of a select few who wrote the first reLeaf grant that got the RNeighborWoods program off to a start in 2003. Since then Jay and Maier Forest and Tree has dedicated many hours of service in helping the RNeighborWoods program grow into the community resource that it is today. This tree-loving Rochester business has dedicated  monetary support, staff expertise and time on our planning committee, as well as equipment and staff dedication at our community tree plantings.

Think of how many trees are in Rochester neighborhoods’ boulevards, indirectly and directly because of the time and talents of Mary, Zoë and Maier Forest and Tree. In 2010, the RNeighborWoods program helped 880 volunteers plant 642 trees. Rochester’s urban forest is greener and leafier thanks to all of the volunteers who help to plant trees in their neighborhood.

Be sure to come out and lend a hand on May 7 at our next big tree planting. The goal that morning? To plant 1,000 trees!

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