Donate A Shrub For Bird Sanctuary Tree Planting

Harder Trees donated $3,500 for planting of 10 native trees at the Bird Sanctuary in support of the Community Tree Planting grant.

The Garden City Bird Sanctuary received notification from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the award of a $7,500 grant towards an Urban Forestry Community Tree Planting Program starting in 2007. This grant enables the Bird Sanctuary to initiate re-landscaping of two areas at the 9 acre community nature preserve as well as replacement of the diseased maple street trees on Tanners Pond Road. One section of the Bird Sanctuary will be re-planted in the Spring with a variety of native canopy trees, understory trees and shrubs as well as perennial plants.

"We were extremely pleased to obtain this grant", remarked Rob Alvey, "especially as competition was stiff, and even the Village of Garden City had applied for a grant. Our application showed a true community-wide participation with over $25,000 in pledged donations of services, funds, and supplies from a variety of sources. Significant donations were received from Peter Negri, Tom Poole, Bartlett Trees, Harder Trees, Presidential Tree Care, Mike Didyk, and both Garden City High School's Environmental Club and Chaminade. Even smaller donations of service hours from Adelphi, Nassau Community College, and the Garden City Community Church demonstrated a great support for the Bird Sanctuary's program."

The Community Tree Planting program is being expanded to include a greater number and variety of shrubs from donations by the community. The Bird Sanctuary invites you to "adopt" a shrub with a donation of $100 towards the program. These native shrubs will enhance the beauty of the area as well as provide food and shelter for wildlife. Native species such as oak leaf hydrangeas, native rhododendrons, and viburnums, and hollies will be added as a buffer between the Bird Sanctuary and adjacent soccer field. Each "adopted" shrub will have a marker with the name of the donor or honoree noted. Several shrubs have already been adopted compliments of the Vernice family, Lillin Berryman, Marguerite and Bob Gorman, Bill and Nancy Marshall, Ted Yaremo, Margaret Trakis, Barbara Helmus, and Bisset Nursery. Additional shrubs have been donated in honor of Dr. "Bugs" Bower by Prof. Katheryn Podwall, in honor of Florence Loozis by the Wegener family, in honor of Edward H. Schoen by the Schoen family, in memory of Jeanne Bassani Miller by Yolanda Bassani, in memory of Tony DiNonno by Ted Caputo, in memory of Jean Hansen by Kit Oderwald, and in honor of the deceased members of the Garden City Retired Educators Association. The first grouping of new shrubs is scheduled to be planted by May. If you would like to adopt a shrub, please send a donation of $100 payable to the Garden City Bird Sanctuary, Community Tree Planting, at P.O. Box 7507, Garden City, NY 11530-7507, or call Rob Alvey, President, at (516) 326-1720.