OBSERVER Photo by J.M. Lesinski. The dock at Cassadaga Beach is pictured just after sunset recently. The beach is getting some new equipment this summer.

CASSADAGA — A celebration of Arbor Day has been scheduled by the village for May 18, following a new grant announcement by Village Clerk Roxanne Astry.

“We did get the grant for Arbor Day, $1,000, what will happen is, we’ll pay the expenses and then get reimbursed,” Astry reported of the grant. “We decided that we would have the Arbor Day celebration on May 18 at 10 a.m. at the library, it’s going to start there.”

Further accolades came with the announcement, as the village’s application has also been selected to be the new model application for future applicants. “We applied for $700, but got $1,000 because they’re going to use our application for a model application now,” Astry stated. “Because they liked that we were including so many organizations and municipalities – Cassadaga, Lily Dale, the high school, the library and the job corps.”

The event will center on tree plantings throughout the mentioned areas in the spirit of Arbor Day. “What we plan on doing is planting two or three trees down at the ball fields by the picnic pavilion for ours,” Astry noted of the trees that will be planted. “Lily Dale is getting one or two and we’re giving the job corps and high school a couple of fruit trees. That’s what they recommended, so they could use it.”

Following Astry’s grant announcement, Trustee Cindy Flaherty made an announcement of her own regarding Cassadaga Beach. “I posted for lifeguards on social media,” Flaherty stated. “I put the deadline for April 30.”

Due to late school exams and possible lifeguard-related conflicts as a result, the opening day for the beach will be later than usual this year. “I would like to set the beach dates, this is really late because the last regents exam is not until June 24,” Flaherty noted. “So we can’t open until June 29…and it would run until August 24.”

Flaherty also announced and gained approval for new equipment for the beach area. “I have an order all set to go in using last year’s budget money,” she said of the expenditures. “It’s for playground equipment, fencing and posts, Adirondack chairs, ABD pads and it comes to $1,839.49 altogether.”

Before the beach opens, there is also the matter of getting the dock into the water once it’s not too cold, Mayor MaryJo Bauer noted, as well as a proposed project to remove the sharp edges from the dock to prevent any possible injuries from occurring.