Community Corner

New Group Hopes to Bring Trees Back to Harrison

An upstart resident group hopes to raise money to plant new trees to line Harrison's streets.

While waiting her turn to address the Town Board during last year's budget meeting, Doreen Klein listened to several speakers talk about town programs that need to be slashed to save money, but when she stepped to the podium she went in the other direction.

She said that Harrison needs to begin replacing fallen trees, a practice stopped a few years ago because of budget constraints. She said that by doing so the town can restore some of its beautiful look, while helping out property values that have been reduced by the recession.

Although there wasn't money in the town's 2011 budget, Klein said the board's response to the idea was overwhelmingly positive.

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"We were very pleased with how receptive they were, they have additional suggestions... It was wonderful," she said.

And so was born the Trees For Harrison organization, a group of residents hoping to use community donations and fundraisers to restore the tree population throughout the town, especially along neighborhood streets.

Find out what's happening in Harrisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to estimates from the town, Klein said that about 100 trees either fall or are knocked down in Harrison every year. Recently, at a cost of about $150 per tree, replacing them has become too much for the town to handle. Klein and Leah Pantelopulos, who joined Trees For Harrison earlier this year, hope to raise enough money to replace at least half of the trees that fall in town every year.

"I do love tree-lined streets," said Pantelopulos. "Some streets are like fully tree-lined and then other streets have absolutely no trees, and the aesthetics to me just don't work well."

The group doesn't know where, specifically, they will plant the trees. The town already has a list of trees that residents have asked to be replaced, Klein said, so once there is some money raised they'll either start with that or work with the town to find places on their own to begin planting.

The groups first fundraiser is a bring your own alcohol B.I.N.G.O. fundraiser scheduled for June 3 at the Veterans Building on Halstead Avenue. The event will begin at 7 p.m. and will include a 50/50 raffle and silent auction. Klein said the group also plans to have a table at It's Great to Live in Harrison Day this fall.

"We're just going to try to get as many trees as we can into Harrison," said Pantelopulos. "I'm assuming the more we get the better off we'll be—and the happier."


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