Seedlings from Space and Historic Concert Highlight Weekend Bicentennial Events in Bloomfield

Bloomfield continues the year-long celebration of its Bicentennial. On Friday, April 27, a Bicentennial Tree will be planted from an Eastern White Pine seedling which was grown from seeds that traveled aboard the space shuttle Columbia on April 4, 1997. The event will take place at 6 p.m. at the Town Green at Broad Street and LibertyStreet, across from the Bloomfield Civic Center.

On Sunday, April 29, The Bloomfield Civic Band in conjunction with the Bloomfield Bicentennial Committee, Bloomfield Federation of Music and the Bloomfield Recreation Dept. will perform a Bicentennial Concert at Bloomfield Middle School, 60 Huck Road at 3 p.m.

The tree was provided through the 86th Annual NJ Shade Tree Federation Conference. Seeds from the New Jersey Forestry Tree Nursery were provided for the space shuttle flight, traveling at 17,500 mph for a distance of 1.5 million miles. The seeds germinated in half of the normal 10-14 day rate for these trees, in what the Federation believes to be the first effort to have tree seeds experience the weightlessness of space. The tree is currently being cared for at the N.J. Community Forestry's Greenhouse in Jackson, N.J.

The concert will feature various historic compositions complete with narration by Bloomfield Bicentennial Committee volunteers. Both events are free to the public. Rita's ices will be served on Friday, and you can bring home a tree of your own to plant. On Sunday, an array of refreshments will be provided free to all attendees.
These events are part of the Bloomfield Bicentennial events schedule that began with a heralded Opening Ceremony on March 23, which marked 200 years to the day of the town's incorporation. Future events include an old fashioned picnic, concert series, historical presentations/ tours and more. A list of event dates and details, information on sponsorship, merchandise, donation and volunteer opportunities are available at
www.bloomfieldbicentennial.com or by request via email at info@bloomfieldbicentennial.com.