NewCanaanite.com recently received the following letter. Please send letters to editor@newcanaanite.com to have them published here.
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Dear New Canaanite,
We are writing on behalf of the New Canaan Beautification League to extend our warmest thanks to the hardworking team that brought the South Avenue Tree Project to reality. It started with a conversation at Mead Park in the fall sunshine of 2022. The site plans were approved by the State early this year, and 135 new trees are now standing proudly along South Avenue from Cherry Street down to the YMCA. It took sustained and diligent teamwork to make this happen.
Tiger Mann did a phenomenal job of coordinating the project, and Tree Warden Bob Horan gave invaluable input. Both worked with the State Department of Transportation to address multiple issues raised in the negotiation of our permit. Bill Pollack of Keith E. Simpson Associates developed our site plan and gave hands-on assistance with tree selection and pacing out sight lines. We were all out in the January snow with Tiger’s awesome DPW crew, who hammered in the stakes marking each planting site. An expanded crew handled the planting in April, and the Town will water the young trees for at least their first year. We are grateful to the Board of Selectmen for approving the funding for this project, which will benefit the Town in countless ways. As an expert from an earlier tree-planting project in Town opined, “The long-term benefits of trees are more than twice their cost.”
Thanks also to Mike Dinan for his March 26, 2025 article in The New Canaanite featuring our project. We also had practical and moral support from NCBL members Peter Atkins, Nora Fay and our Civic Beautification “fairy godmother” Faith Kerchoff.
For those who are interested, the trees comprise about 20 native varieties to promote urban forest resilience and support a wider range of ecosystem benefits. They include oaks, maples, linden, elm (resistant), sycamore, hornbeam, dogwoods, hawthorn and black gum (tupelo)
Our heartfelt thanks to all,
Betsy Bilus and Jill Ernst
New Canaan Beautification League
Thank you Betsy & Jill, DPW, Tiger, et al. This was a well-thought out project and will transform South Avenue. Bravo NC Beautification League!!!
Congratulations, kudos and hearty appreciation for this substantial project to enhance the ‘main artery’ of the town. Yet another example of private/public partnership for the good of our community.