August 11, 2009 Worcester honors woman who first discovered invasive beetle Play video

(NECN: Kenneth Craig, Worcester, Mass.) - It has been a year since the Asian longhorned beetle was first discovered in Worcester. Since then, thousands of trees have come down.

It was another hot day in August, almost a year ago when Donna Massie found the first critter in her own yard.

She told officials, and they determined it was the Asian longhorned beetle - an infestation was well underway - undetected for years.

And so Tuesday morning, blocks from where the beetle was first discovered, Massie, state and local officials gathered.

It was an award ceremony of sorts - a series of proclamations read, naming August Asian longhorned beetle awareness month, while honoring the Worcester woman who started it all.

Since then, officials have cut down more than 25 thousand trees - dramatically changing the landscape of some of Worcester’s most well established neighborhoods.

Clint McFarland of the USDA says while cutting has stopped for now, there's no way of telling when it'll all be over.