Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

Tree Committee announces plans to reinstate memorial tree program

Date: 4/12/2010

April 12, 2010

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



LONGMEADOW -- One of Mike Wrabel's many duties as director of the town's Department of Public Works (DPW) is to serve as a member of the Tree Committee, a group that helps the Tree Warden set tree management priorities. The committee met recently to discuss a memorial tree program.

"The current program is dormant," Wrabel explained. "We want to change it and start it again."

The memorial tree program would allow residents to make a donation for a specific species of tree to be planted in memory of a loved one. The idea to reinstate the program was brought up earlier this year as a possible way to generate more revenue in town.

Wrabel, who met with Tree Committee members Peter Bouvier and Jim Jones on March 25, said he'd like to have the program up and running again by Arbor Day on April 30.

"Look at parks, the green, the tree belts -- if there's a new [high] school, there will be a lot of possibility there," Wrabel said. He added that the DPW or the Longmeadow Volunteers, a group headed by resident Bill Morey, would do all the plantings. The DPW would also be responsible for all tree maintenance.

The committee is looking at other memorial tree programs around the country to see which trees are available and what the suggested donations are. Jones and Bouvier thought donations, depending on what species of tree is selected and where it is planted -- either as a street tree or a specimen tree in a park or on the green -- should range from $200 to $350. The cost would cover purchase, planting and care.

Wrabel suggested a list of five or six trees suitable to the area be compiled for residents to select from. Being considered right now are red oak, red maple, golden rain, crab apple and tupelo trees. The Tree Committee would change the list of trees available every few years to ensure diversity of the plant life in town.

More information on the memorial tree program will be released as details become more definite.