Earth Day celebration makes up for lost time

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​BY JOHN MCKENNA, April 22, 2021, Republican American. ​With snow in the air Thursday, Grace Yagtug, chairwoman of Litchfield Garden Club’s conservation committee, shovels dirt onto the base of a newly planted crab apple tree during an Earth Day celebration in the meadow at the Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School.

Litchfield Garden Club held two years’ worth of Earth Day celebrations Thursday in the meadow at Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School.
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Last year’s celebration, designed to be the final event in a year of activities the club sponsored to raise awareness about the importance of being good to the Earth, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The club, however, remained determined to carry out its plan.

On an unseasonably cold morning with a snow squall passing through, club members gathered in the meadow to dedicate four crabapple trees planted in recognition of Earth Day. One was planted to mark 2020’s canceled event, a second was planted for this year, a third honors garden club supporters who died in the past year and a fourth was planted in tribute to first responders who have served dutifully during the pandemic.

Cathy Fields, executive director of Litchfield Historical Society, which owns and maintains the meadow, thanked the club for its work to beautify the property. “We truly value the work of the garden club and we admire your mission because it aligns with ours,” Fields said. “The meadow is a place we can all come together and I’m thrilled that you have such a strong interest in it.”

​The planting project was headed by the club’s conservation committee and its chairwoman, Grace Yagtug. She and other committee members picked up shovels and applied dirt around the bases of the recently planted trees.