Acts of Kindness

Twenty years ago our lives changed forever. Today, every act of kindness, every act of service to each other is an opportunity to honor those we lost.

20 Acts of Kindness

Be nice. Ask "How can I help?" Ask yourself and others: What makes you smile when you get up in the morning? Open a door for someone and hold the door for the person behind you. Remember that everyone is the hero of their own story. Put your phone away and be an active listener. Avoid interrupting others when they are speaking. Say please, thank you, and you’re welcome. Practice Empathy. Avoid gossip, especially on social media, unless it is good news. Write a thank you note, on paper. Reach out to the elderly and those who may be alone. Be kind to yourself and count your blessings. Share what you have learned with others. If you can, say YES! Jump in when children ask for donations or help with a project. Make eye contact and smile. Avoid jumping in to criticize others. Continue to always thank those healthcare workers, FedEx, UPS and USPS folks, grocery store employees and truck drivers for a job incredibly well done. Show up for our town's 9/11 services this weekend.

Thank You! An Anonymous Neighbor

Touchstones: A Treasured Copper Beech Tree Falls to Ida

By Anne W. Semmes

212.237.7000

One of Greenwich’s “Treasured Trees,” the Copper Beech that graced the lawn of First Lutheran Church on Field Point Road, today is sawdust. Said to have been 100-plus years standing, it was felled a week ago Friday-Saturday, a few days after a major branch fell on the next door office building at 66 Field Point Road, exposing an unhealthy interior main trunk calling for the tree to be cut down.

“It had a lot of cabling done – it just had some structural problems,” said Lutheran Pastor Evan Scamman. “And once half of it was down, we could see inside the trunk of the other half and realized that it was hollow and there was a lot of rot. It was a beautiful tree, and when they took it down the arborist told me it was a good thing that we did because it was full of carpenter ants - it was at the end of its life.”

Many a passing motorist has seen the grandeur of that Copper Beech and surely it will be missed by neighbor Peter Malkin. When the Greenwich Tree Conservancy (GTC) that Malkin chairs awarded it CODE: HSS-2020-42A PUB/POST: Greenwich Sentinel; issue dates: 6/1 - 6/14 (5/26/2020) DESCRIPTION: The Best Orthopedics as a “Treasured Tree,” as submitted by the Lutheran Church in 2020, Malkin had happily shared. “It’s a PRODUCTION: N/A WORKORDER #: 74554 LIVE: None TRIM: 10.75” x 10.8” FILE: 03A-74550-04A-HSS-2020-42A.inddwonderful thing every day when we go out, we see that beautiful Copper Beech.” SAP #: HSS.HSSGEN.20000.B.011 BLEED: None

Frank Parker III, whose family are property owners of 66 Field Point Road, cited the Copper Beech as “the most significant tree in central Greenwich.” Parker was praised by Pastor Scammam for his T:10.75” generosity, “in helping to care for and support the tree because you know that costs a lot of money.” Parker, who serves on the GTC board, said of the Copper Beech, “This tree like all trees was a gift – beautiful, provides shade, provides shelter and habitat for animals, and stores carbon. This tree being so old did its job very well while surviving the effects of development.” But it is the parishioners of First Lutheran who have special appreciation of the Copper Beech. “I've been a member of First Lutheran church my whole life,” said Leah Liptak, “and that’s 67 years. The tree has always been there welcoming us Sunday mornings. We’d go out from Sunday school and play under the tree. It just was a big, awesome comfort, like God Himself put it there to protect us.” Parishioner Amy Young too was a lover of the tree and recalled office workers next door with their big windows telling, “It was like working in a tree house.” So, what tree will be chosen to replace it? “It would be nice to put back a White Oak,” suggests our Town Tree Warden Dr. Gregory Kramer. “The larger you get with a tree in terms of transplanting the riskier and more input you have to put into it, so I was suggesting a maximum of six inches.” Kramer had inspected the felled Copper Beech and responded to requests for replacement ideas from Frank Parker, Peter Malkin and the Greenwich Tree Conservancy. Kramer found “some serious rot going on” in the Copper Beech, “particularly in the crotches and upper parts of the trunk.” He noted the tree’s “wide canopy” and thought “where it split was at a junction point where there was so much weight. And, once it split exposed a lot of inner rot.” He saw no sign of Beech Leaf disease that he sees spreading across town “at a very fast rapid rate. “I don't know if you've noticed a lot of the beeches around town and particularly in some of the northern areas look dry. The leaves look very dry, very sparse and they're falling off the trees, very early in the season, mid-summer and early summer.” Kramer then addressed the loss of trees from Hurricane Ida “A lot of trees blew over,” he said. “And I was kind of surprised because they didn't have any prior issues to make me think they were problematic. It was just a weird storm where trees uprooted and fell over. It ran the whole gamut from Elm trees to Norway Maples to Oak trees, and a Linden tree that came down on Marshall Street. So, there were some issues getting around town with trees across main thoroughfares.” He added, “There were a bunch of trees that came down in the Pinetum at the end of the trail going toward Montgomery Lane. And in Bruce Park, “We lost a beautiful Red Oak that by looking at it was structurally sound and hard as can be with a beautiful canopy and it fell

Above: The impressive stump of the felled Copper Beech measured 6-1/2 feet, proof of its 100-plus years. Anne W. Semmes photo. over.” Kramer had featured it on a tree tour last year. “Luckily it just missed the tennis court, so it didn't break the fence.” Found too was that inner rot, “which you would never know for looking at it.”

Below: Named a 2020 “Treasured Tree” So, with all this tree felling from hurricanes might by the Greenwich Tree Conservancy, this Kramer have a suggestion for planting extra durable Copper Beech recently succumbed to age and trees? “Yes, we are planting more bald cypress trees. interior rot. Contributed photo. Even the strongest hurricanes rarely blow them over.”

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