Pittsford Village Arboretum Marks Fifth Anniversary with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Five Years in the Making

Five Years in the Making

The sun cooperated on April 26th. That's not a small thing for an outdoor ribbon cutting in upstate New York, and the crowd that gathered at the Robert C. Corby Arboretum and Wildlife Sanctuary on Village Lane seemed to take it as a sign.

The occasion was the fifth anniversary of the arboretum's official establishment — and the timing was deliberate. April 26th marked A Frog House's local celebration of Save the Frogs Day, the world's largest annual day of amphibian education and conservation action. For a property now home to four newly constructed vernal pools, the date fit perfectly.

Village Trustee Dave Marshall served as master of ceremonies. Village Trustee Lisa Cove joined him, along with members of the Friends of the Arboretum Board of Officers and A Frog House President Margot Fass. What followed was a ceremony and property tour that named, plainly, what five years of volunteer effort had actually produced.

What a Fifth Anniversary Looks Like on the Ground

What a Fifth Anniversary Looks Like on the Ground

The ribbon cutting wasn't marking a groundbreaking — it was marking work already done. Last year saw a significant surge of completed projects at the arboretum, each one moving the property closer to the vision the Village Board approved in 2021: a native-tree showcase and living classroom connected to the Erie Canal Nature Preserve next door.

The headline project: four new vernal pools, constructed to support amphibian breeding habitat. Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that fill with snowmelt and spring rain and — critically — dry out by summer, which prevents fish from establishing and makes them ideal nurseries for wood frogs, spotted salamanders, and other species whose larvae can't survive alongside predatory fish. Building four of them, in a ten-acre urban arboretum adjacent to the canal, is a meaningful ecological contribution.

Also completed: removal of invasive Ailanthus trees that had been crowding out native species; a memorial white oak planted in the center of the meadow; and a permaculture demonstration garden designed to show visitors what productive, native-plant gardening can look like in this region.

"The infrastructure is always simpler than we think it is. The land already exists. The habitat is already waiting to be restored."

What does it mean that a village this size has quietly built something like this — four vernal pools, a demonstration garden, a memorial oak, an expanding trail network — mostly through volunteer labor and community fundraising?

The People Who Built It

The People Who Built It

Friends of the Arboretum President Bob Corby offered particular recognition to Margot Fass and Lindsay Graham, whose fundraising, planning, and hands-on labor were central to both the vernal pools and the permaculture garden.

Former Village Trustees Justin Leitgeb and Lili Lanphear were recognized for supporting the arboretum's inception and helping the Friends navigate challenges along the way. Village Trustee Dave Marshall and the full Village Board received thanks for sustained funding and backing throughout. Jason Cernis and the Village of Pittsford Department of Public Works were acknowledged for ongoing maintenance support across nearly every project completed to date.

The ceremony also recognized the volunteers who have shown up for Friends work parties and A Frog House projects over the years, Eagle Scout troops who have completed projects on the grounds, and a group of advisors — Laurie Broccolo, Sue Steele, Fran Gotscik, JoAnn Beck, and Patrick Garrett — who have contributed expertise and guidance.

The FOA Board of Officers — Vice Presidents Sue Julian and June Reeves, Secretary Karen Holst, Treasurer Jim Weick, At-Large Member Jeanne Powers, and Volunteer Coordinator Frank Caccamise — was recognized for sustained commitment to a project that asks a lot of people over a long period of time.

That kind of sustained commitment doesn't happen in communities that don't genuinely care about what they're building. What gift has your own neighborhood given to the land it sits on?

Come See What's Growing

Come See What's Growing

The Robert C. Corby Arboretum and Wildlife Sanctuary is located at 1 Village Lane in Pittsford, adjacent to the Erie Canal Nature Preserve and connected to the canal towpath trail. It is open to the public. Spring is the right time to visit — the vernal pools are active, the native plantings are waking up, and the meadow is starting to show what five years of restoration work looks like when it takes hold.