April 23, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 5 Wyckoff Arbor Day event to include plantings of trees, shrubs The Wyckoff Shade Tree Commission and the Wyckoff Environmental Com- mission are jointly sponsoring the annual Arbor Day event at the Larkin House Park and will plant trees and shrubs starting at 9 a.m. as part of the event. The Larkin House, which is used for large group meetings, is located on the five- acre site at 380 Godwin Avenue. Helen Larkin, who donated the house to the Township of Wyckoff in her will in 1999, wanted the grounds left in their natu- ral state and, except for the expanded park- ing lot, this was done as she requested. The house has been remodeled to accommodate groups with a service kitchen and expanded restroom facilities. The five-acre property consists of a meadow, trees, shrubs, gar- dens, a grape arbor, and a courtyard. Residents are also urged to plant a tree on their own property to mark Arbor Day. Wyckoff has once again achieved the designation of Tree City USA through the activities of the Shade Tree Commission. Recent projects that contributed to the designation included replanting Scott Plaza across from the Fallen Firefighter Monu- ment with three October glory maple trees, and replanting trees along the primary roads to the Wyckoff Memorial Library, Memorial Field, and the downtown busi- ness center on Wyckoff Avenue, Main Street, and Monroe Avenue. The Shade Tree Commission also replaced the trees destroyed by storms around Zabriskie Pond with nine willow trees to re-create much of the former appearance of the pond. In addition, the group set up a tree nursery at the newly acquired Russell Farms Community Park, Operation Take-Back slated The Wyckoff Police Department and the Ridgewood Police Department will partici- pate in Operation Take-Back on Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Residents who have expired prescrip- tions or out-of-date over-the-counter drugs may drop them off at these local police sta- tions. The drugs collected will be disposed of properly. The program is sanctioned by the Druge Enforcement Agency National Take-Back Initiative, which points out that prescrip- tion drugs used for the wrong purposes kill more Americans than street narcotics. with 130 donated flowering and non-flow- ering trees. A sensory garden has also been founded at Russell Farms. This area is accessible to all visitors to the park. Sing it! Evan Sheppard, a fifth grader at St. Paul Interparochial School in Ramsey, performed at Blue Moon Mexican Cafe in Wyckoff for Mini-Shepstock, a charity event in memory of his father that benefitted the Best Answer for Cancer Founda- tion. (Photo courtesy of Pat Lamorgese.) The Shade Tree Commission intends to create a greener environment for the town- ship and to plant trees along arterial roads around Wyckoff. J. KOSTER