City Trees

6 CityTREES It is spring and your SMA Board has been doing its own form of dusting and cleaning. This year, and for the past several years, your SMA board has taken the time to review SMA processes, honestly critique our programs, and diligently work to make the appropriate enhancements. We are developing new partnerships and reinforcing existing ones. We are assisting each committee with the resources it needs to move SMA and our industry forward. We have heard brilliant ideas! We are improving SMA's collective skill set and filling our arboricultural tool box with new ideas, partnerships, opportunities, and volunteers. Through this process we Board members have set goals for program enhancement, and through honest critique we have achieved a higher level of communication, respect for each other, and respect for individual skill sets and expertise. As our municipal arboriculture industry has grown, expanded, and diversified, it is near impossible for one person to have a complete tool box of skills. We recognize that and are celebrating how each person's individual skills contribute vitally to the engine of SMA. On a personal note, my volunteer involvement with SMA continues to be one of the highlights of my life and of my 43-year career in the green industry. This has culmi- nated in my role as President, where I have the extreme honor of meeting, communicating with, and learning from hundreds of leaders at every level in our industry. My understanding of our field has deepened tremen- dously through my involvement in SMA, and running for President was one of the best choices I've ever made. As we continue to enhance our programs and processes, we need brilliant and creative minds who want to share their skills and learn new ones in a supportive and social envi- ronment. We would love folks who have an interest in vol- unteering to look at our new website and think about which program committee would be a good fit for you. To get con- nected, please contact us at urbanforestry@prodigy.net. We can't really talk about vol- unteers without mentioning those SMA members who serve as the teaching cadre for the Municipal Forestry Institute (MFI). In February, cadre veterans Paul Ries, Owen Croy, Walt Warriner, Andy Hillman, John McNeil, and Keith Cline led MFI 2018 in Litchfield, Connecticut. The Tree Warden Association of Connecticut also graciously pro- vided many volunteer hours in the form of administra- tive support and hosting our Thursday evening social. Connecticut Urban Forestry Coordinator Chris Donnelly kicked things off on Sunday night, providing some back- ground on his state's urban forestry program. Dr. Dave Nowak joined us as our "fireside chat" speaker, sharing his own leadership journey. He also helped out with the i-Tree session—who better than the i-Tree Team Leader himself?—and he was pressed into service for the reli- ably hilarious and instructive Quagmire Tree Board skit. MFI grads Heather Dionne, Molly Freilicher, and Ken Placko joined us on Friday morning to tell us how their professional and personal lives have benefitted from MFI. And our very own SMA President Sarah Morris, along with US Forest Service Assistant Director Jan Davis, added their well wishes to our newest class of MFIers. MFI is just one week long, but the amount of time and effort that goes into preparing this program is done by volunteers who know that they will get far more out of it than what they put into it. Many of our members can't afford to spend an entire week volunteering for SMA, but rest assured there are many opportunities for you, no matter how much time you can spend. I think you will find that you, too, will get more than you expect! We all feel better knowing we shared our hard learned les- sons with others, in the hopes that they won't have to go through what we did. Plus, it's motivating to be part of a group who are all rowing in the same direction, with the same goal in mind. And, most of all, we have a good time doing SMA volunteer things (I can't call it "work," because it's more fun than work.) Don't be late to the party, just send us an email saying you want in, and we'll take it from there! President's Message Sarah Morris Executive Director's Message Jerri J. LaHaie

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