Borough Not Sure What To Do With Memorial Trees
July 18, 2008
ECO
Staff -- Laure Cioffi, senior journalist
ELLWOOD CITY – The memorial trees planted
along the roadways in Ewing Park come in all shapes and sizes.
Some are large with lots of leaves, others
are bare and nearly dead.
Borough
officials are now grappling with how to maintain those trees and if they can
even continue the program.
“We are running out of memorial tree space,” Councilwoman Angela Valvano
said at Monday’s council meeting.
Valvano said she brought the issue before
council this week to note that there will be plenty of other memorial
options when the downtown revitalization begins, but worries there will be
no space for more memorial trees in Ewing Park.
“I do think we are getting a little cluttered,” she said after Monday’s
meeting.
No one is sure how many memorial trees have been planted over the years.
Borough Manager Dom Viccari said he started the memorial tree program in
1986 when he was a member of borough council. Nineteen trees were planted
along Riverside Drive in memory of various Lincoln High School graduating
classes.
“From then on trees were planted everywhere in the park. People saw that as
a nice way to remember their loved ones,” Viccari said.
There has never been a clear policy on who maintains the trees. Viccari said
the $175 cost barely covers the price of the tree and the planting.
“We don’t have the manpower to harvest all of those trees,” Councilman John
Todorich said. Todorich believes the people who buy the memorial trees
should maintain them.
But others on council aren’t sure that’s a
great idea.
“I don’t know if I’m in favor of having people who donate the trees trim
them,” Councilman George Celli said. “I would hate to see someone trim them
and they die.”
That’s
what happened to the Caminite family.
Connie Caminite said the family has planted three trees in the same spot in
honor of her late husband, Dominic, over the last 10 years, but each has
died.
Caminite said her son-in-law, who works in landscaping, has tried to
maintain it.
“It’s that whole section,” she said of where the tree is planted along
Beatty Street. “There must be something wrong with the soil.”
Several trees surrounding the Caminite tree have also died.
Trees in other sections of the park are growing well and Viccari said he
continues to get memorial donations for more trees.
He currently has 13 donations for new trees. Viccari said they hire a
professional landscaper to plant the trees after receiving so many
donations, but has recently put off planting because of weather conditions.
Some on council suggest that it is time to stop the memorial tree program
and offer the public another memorial option such as a brick walkway.
“Once it’s done, it’s there forever,” Celli said of the bricks.
But first Councilwoman Valvano said she would like to have a map made
showing exactly how many and where the existing memorial trees are located.
“It’s difficult to say where space is and isn’t,” she said.