Photo Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel |This work is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The city will mark Arbor Day this year with a Liberty Tree planting ceremony honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States.

The event is scheduled for Friday, April 24, at 1:30 p.m. at William Ellery Park, located at the intersection of Thames and Farewell streets. It is free and open to the public.

Hosted by Newport’s Tree and Open Space Commission and the Newport Historical Society, the ceremony will serve as a kickoff to the city’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Honors will be provided by the Newport Artillery Company.

Several presenters will speak about the significance of the Liberty Tree, the history of the park and the role Newport and its residents played in the fight for American independence.

The centerpiece of the ceremony will be the replanting of the city’s official Liberty Tree, a 20-foot American elm donated by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...