Community volunteers gather around a Fall Fiesta sugar maple at Cooke Park on Saturday morning. The group helped plant 35 trees as part of Galesburg’s Project 350 initiative. (Photo by Tom Simkins)

Volunteers plant 35 new trees in Galesburg parks

Thirty volunteers gathered Saturday morning to plant 35 new trees across Galesburg — 29 at Cooke Park and six at South and Whitesboro streets — as part of the city’s ongoing Project 350 initiative.

Participants included Rotarians, members of the Elks Club, Knox College students and local residents, with help from City Council members Angelica Mangieri and Dwight White. The event also drew support from Connie Cowan of Trees Forever, which provided a $15,000 Community Canopy grant that funded about 90 of this fall’s plantings.

According to city special projects coordinator Tom Simkins, volunteers have planted 230 trees in 2025 and 710 since Project 350 began in 2022. The initiative has added 111 different tree cultivars throughout the city.

Simkins thanked volunteers, city staff and residents for their work and said the planting marked the final special projects volunteer event of the year.