After recently receiving approval at a joint meeting of the Woodstock Village Trustees and Selectboard, the volunteer-led Woodstock Village Conservancy — a project of Woodstock Community Trust dedicated to improving the design and sustainability of public spaces — is now launching a fundraising campaign in order to fulfill its first initiative, “Branch Out Woodstock,” which will coordinate the planting of four new trees on Central street in the village.
On condition of raising the funds, the trees will be installed in currently abandoned tree wells along Central Street in April 2027. The cost of each tree will be around $15,000, for a total of approximately $60,000. The Conservancy will fundraise $70,000-$75,000 to cover costs and maintenance.
The process of launching “Branch Out Woodstock” was a collaborative venture among various town entities, stressed Stuart Mathews, who — along with the team of Joe DiNatale, Jack Rossi, and Laura Dyess — leads the initiative.
The Conservancy’s fundraising campaign will be two-pronged — one for installation and one for long-term maintenance of the trees, and will rely on the community for support. “The town doesn’t really have the money to do this kind of thing, so we thought we could raise [the funds via] philanthropic funding,” said Mathews. “Obviously, a lot of the money will probably come from major donors, but we think it’s a wonderful opportunity to get a lot of people involved. We hope that we have community support for the initiative.”
For more on this, please see our July 16 edition of the Vermont Standard.
