Daily News from New York, New York • 456

Manhattan wJ7 and Bronx x- vbi Daily News, Sunday, April 5, 1981 DEiOflE DHOHA DAILY NEWS vf 1 ive green thumbs a hand rt. jaw By JOHN LEWIS 4t A j-f MILLARD MITCHELL, director of "volunteer services for the city parks, said that there has been an upsurge in the number of volunteer groups doing work in the parks. "We now have 15,000 park -volunteers, and the number is growing daily," he said. 5 Mitchell said that President Reagan is expected to proclaim April 27 through May 3 as Volunteer Week and that the Parks Department will kick off its own spring and summer volunteer season on. May 2, with special programs in several parks.

"Anyone who does work in parks and playgrounds, must have a permit and be supervised by a park official," Mitchell said. "We offer them technical advice and, when available, provide them with materials and tools. We also supply them with documents to petition funds from organizations such as the Parks-Council and the Citizens Committee for New York City. The results have been "overwhelming," he said. On City Island, for instance, a garden club there is planting a large flower bed and in Central Park, students from Northport High School on Long Island are coming into the park for a six-week period to clean up graf itL Other volunteer organizations are trimming shrubbery while others are doing erosion control work in the parks.

i "SOON YOU WILL SEE thousands of tulips in front of the New York Public Library on 42d St," Mitchell said. "They were were planted last fall by Friends of Library Gardens. Most of the work was done by two ladies." In Central Park this spring, there will be thousands of daffodils that rLl I VE HUNDRED endangered Dutch Elm trees in Riverside Park, one of the last surviving groups of such trees in the United States, have been getting tender-loving care for the past few of years from a group called Friends of Riverside Park. Workmen, hired by the group, could be seen recently moving from tree to tree in the park at 123d St. and Riverside Drive, pruning old and dying branches that harbor the.

elm bark. beetle, carrier of the dreaded Dutch Elm disease. The friends are one of more than 300 volunteer organizations that are helping to beautify and clean up 24,610 acres of parks and playgrounds in the City. THEY PERFORM a wide range of services from planting tulip bulbs, to cleaning graffiti, to caring for the 2.6! million trees that grace the city streets1 and parks. Clara dayman, president of Friends of Riverside Park, said the organization was formed two years ago to preserve the elms and other rare trees in the park.

The members now number 400, she said. "Three years 'ago. we lost 10 elm trees," she said. "Last year, we lost We do regular inspections to see if; there is any signs of Dutch Elm disease. We also have hired an arborist for two days, at a cost of $300 a day, to prune the trees." The money is raised by the group through dues, she said.

In early May, the friends, working with Japanese American Help for will begin planting the first of 100 Japanese cherry trees in a grove between 91st and 95th Sts. The trees are to replace cherry trees that have died off because of neglect. iHittftrfiS No job for an amateur, a professional tree pruner steps precariously on outer limb of elm tree. In background is Grant's Tomb. IN HARLEM, A VOLUNTEER group called Rucker Pro Tournament, consisting of former professional basketball players, have adopted the Hul-combe-Rucker Playground at 155th St and Eighth "They raked and bagged all the garbage and now it is a delightful place of which kids and adults alike are.proud," he said.

For any group interested in adopting a square, a mall or a park, the procedure is simple, he said. Send a letter N.Y. 10021, or phone (212) 3608175 and (212)3608176. The department will tell you what can and cannot be done and will assign a supervisor to oversee the operation. Also, a permit will be issued to the group.

Mitchell said that because of the water shortage they are discouraging groups from planting, unless the plants are the type that can survive a drought "If we think a group is attempting something that it can't handle we will say no," he said. Otherwise, the Volunteers are mors welcome Ja the parks. a were planted by volunteer groups. Tulips have been planted in Union about the organization and outlining Square and Madison Square parks, Bryant Park and along the Grand Concourse, he said. lz exactly wnat you plan lo ao to: mui-a Mitchell, Department of Parks and Re-creation830 Fifth New' York,.