FARMINGTON – Arbor Day was observed in Farmington on Tuesday with a time to acknowledge the gift of eight trees recently planted along Church Street. The trees donated by Richard Bjorn reflect his support for planting trees, he said, and his desire to keep doing it for the future.

Arbor Week in Maine, celebrated the third full week of May, began Monday with a celebration at the State House. Farmington was acknowledged as one of the oldest tree cities in Maine along with Westbrook and Kennebunk, said Bobbie Hanstein, Conservation Commission chairwoman.

Farmington has been a Tree City for 31 consecutive years and is one of 16 in the state, she said. The designation results from the town’s proclamation to celebrate Arbor Day and an ordinance that establishes a tree board, or in Farmington’s case, the Conservation Commission.

Participating towns also agree to spend $2 per capita on trees or something relating to trees, she said.

“It’s a wonderful and rare honor for the town,” Town Manager Richard Davis said of the Tree City award.

This year’s Conservation Commission project is landscaping for the new playground at Hippach Field.

A $3,400 grant will pay for six shade trees, six blue spruce and 12 shrubs at the playground, Hanstein said.

The Church Street Project was undertaken with a $150,000 community development block grant that provided for sidewalks and granite curbing, Davis said. Four new decorative lights were also added to Cony Street to light the way toward a county parking lot on Anson Street.

The alley between Reny’s and the Homestead Bakery soon will be paved to give a cobblestone or brick appearance, and similar decorative lights will be added by business owners, Code Enforcement Officer J. Stevens Kaiser said.

The now one-way street was paved last week and new trees including Hawthorns, river birch, honey locusts and a maple were planted.