Regreen Springfield

Regreen Springfield

Painting Party with Common Wealth Murals in Holyoke, Ma on 7-24-26.
See Regreen Springfield's fruit orchard in the complex!

Celebrate the day! Happy July 4th from Regreen Springfield.

RePlant, ReStore, ReNew.

Cambridge’s growing urban forest shows what is possible when a city makes trees a priority. The City now cares for about 24,000 public trees, plants more than 1,000 trees each year, and has reached 30% tree canopy — helping create cooler, healthier, more inviting neighborhoods. ([City of Cambridge][1])

At ReGreen Springfield, we know that every tree planted and cared for helps build a stronger urban forest — providing shade, habitat, cleaner air, and a better quality of life for residents.

Let’s keep growing Springfield’s tree canopy, one tree and one neighborhood at a time.

[1]: https://www.cambridgema.gov/digital/stories/2026/thecambridgelifespring2026/cambridge%E2%80%99sgrowingurbanforest "Cambridge’s Growing Urban Forest - City of Cambridge, MA"

Cambridge’s Growing Urban Forest - City of Cambridge, MA Find out how Cambridge’s trees improve our neighborhoods and support local wildlife.

Why don't any trees have Facebook?

Because none of them want 2 LOG on!

Happy International Joke Day from Regreen Springfield... Remember Laughter is the best medicine 🌳😂

Urban trees and green spaces do far more than make our neighborhoods look beautiful — they help keep people healthier. A USDA Forest Service research summary highlights how access to parks, trees, and nearby nature can reduce stress, support mental health, encourage physical activity, improve air quality, cool neighborhoods, and strengthen community well-being.

At ReGreen Springfield, this is why we believe planting and caring for trees is also an investment in public health, neighborhood resilience, and quality of life for everyone.

Let’s keep growing a greener, healthier Springfield.

Image: Forest Park
Article:https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fs_media/fs_document/urbannatureforhumanhealthandwellbeing_508_01_30_18.pdf

Remember to "plant" yourself under a tree this week. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Keep cool; it's hot out.

Bring water with you if you are out in the woods this week. Record breaking heat expected!

This was a great day to plant a fruit orchard in Indian Orchard! Stay tuned; fruit coming soon! Thanks Indian Orchard Citizens Council!

𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬, 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥: 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟏.

There are moments that change a city forever. For Springfield, Massachusetts, June 1, 2011 was one of those moments.

On that warm spring afternoon, the sky turned an eerie greenish-gray, and within minutes, everything changed. A series of three tornadoes tore through Western Massachusetts — the most powerful of them an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita Damage Classification Scale, packing wind speeds estimated between 136 and 165 mph by the National Weather Service. It was the second strongest tornado ever recorded in the history of Massachusetts.

The storm carved a half-mile-wide scar across 39 miles of land, from Westfield all the way to Charlton, killing three people and injuring 200 more. It was a day of heartbreak, of sirens and silence, of neighbors holding neighbors.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭
The main path of the tornado cut directly through the heart of Springfield, threading through neighborhood after neighborhood — the South End, Six Corners, Old Hill, Upper Hill, East Forest Park, and Sixteen Acres. Buildings crumbled. Power lines fell. Families lost their homes, their belongings, their sense of safety.

And the trees — Springfield's beloved, towering canopy of public shade trees — came down by the tens of thousands.

Those trees weren't just wood and leaves. They were landmarks. They were the maple your grandmother sat beneath on summer evenings. The oak that shaded the sidewalk where your children learned to ride their bikes. The elm that stood like a quiet sentinel on the corner of your street for longer than anyone could remember. In the neighborhoods hit hardest, the destruction of the urban tree canopy wasn't just an environmental loss — it was the loss of living history, of beauty, of the gentle, daily comfort that only a mature tree can provide.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧
In the days and weeks that followed the storm, as chainsaws buzzed and debris was cleared, something remarkable happened: people refused to give up on their city.

Regreen Springfield was established in the immediate aftermath of the June 1, 2011 tornado — born from grief, yes, but more powerfully, born from hope. From the very beginning, our mission was clear: we would not let Springfield's tree canopy disappear. We would replant. We would restore. We would rebuild — one tree at a time.

𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤
It has now been 15 years since that tornado changed Springfield forever. And in those 15 years, Regreen Springfield has worked tirelessly alongside residents, volunteers, city officials, community organizations, and tree lovers of every kind to heal the neighborhoods that were hurt the most.

Fifteen years of planting saplings in the ground and watching them stretch toward the sky. Fifteen years of education, advocacy, and stewardship. Fifteen years of proving that a community, when it comes together with purpose, can grow something lasting from even the most devastating loss.

The trees we planted in 2011 and 2012 are no longer saplings. They are standing tall in the South End, lining streets in East Forest Park, offering shade once again in McKnight and Old Hill. They are becoming the very thing they replaced — shelter, beauty, and life.

𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥
Every tree planted by Regreen Springfield is more than a tree. It is a memorial to what was lost, and a testament to what this community chose to do in response. It is a promise made to future generations that Springfield is a city that cares for itself, that tends to its streets and its people, that believes in the power of roots.

To everyone who has ever picked up a shovel, donated, volunteered, or simply stopped to admire a newly planted tree on your block — thank you. You are the reason Springfield is green again.

The tornado took so much from this city. But it could not take the spirit of the people who call Springfield home. And it could not stop new trees from growing.

Fifteen years later, we are still here. Still planting. Still growing.

— Regreen Springfield