In the last year of his life, New Canaan’s Dick Reifers is remembered by one close friend as planting an endangered tree on his own property, the Metasequoia glyptostroboides or “dawn Redwood”—which interested Reifers after its rediscovery in China about 70 years ago.
On Friday, New Canaan friends, relatives and town officials remembered Reifers as an civic-minded, avid gardener and generous member of the community, in honoring him with the Arbor Day planting of a sycamore tree on the banks of Mead Pond.
Trees that in recent decades is known for carrying a disease that makes them lose their leaves midsummer instead of in the fall, George Valchar said, sycamores yet often live 140 years or more, and are among the tallest in this area, sometimes reaching 160 feet.
“Let’s hope that our young American sycamore will survive the early years and then will grow into a giant 150-feet-tall tree with branches turning white with a little green and a little gray, and that the citizens of 2200 as they walk by will admire the great Dick Reifers American Sycamore,” Valchar said at the pond moments before he and others spread soil over the base of the sycamore to mark the day. The event included a proclamation by First Selectman Rob Mallozzi that was delivered by Selectman Beth Jones. Here’s a video clip from the event (the article continues below).
“The Arbor Day tradition goes back quite a long time,” Tom Cronin, chairman of the New Canaan Public Tree Board and a member of the Rotary Club of New Canaan, told NewCanaanite.com. “We like to recognize citizens of New Canaan who have contributed some way to better New Canaan as far as the outdoors—nature, gardening, that sort of theme—and that’s why Dick Reifers is a perfect fit. Not only was he an avid gardener and outdoors person, he was also a big part of the beautification around the mailbox drop-off. They call that the ‘Mailbox Park.’ ”
Tom Cronin, a member of the Rotary Club of New Canaan, is chairman of the Public Tree Board in town. Here he is with a group of residents and town officials honoring the late Richard Reifers with the planting of a sycamore by Mead Pond on Arbor Day 2014.
Reifers and Valchar together had designed and maintained the area for 14 years prior to handing it off to the present-day New Canaan Beautification League.
Mark Reifers, son of Dick Reifers, was on hand for the ceremony with other relatives, including his sister. Mark described his father as someone who liked to solve problems.
“If he saw something was amiss, he would find out the right people to contact to get them to rectify the situation,” Mark Reifers said during an interview. “He took a lot of pride in this town and he figured out what wasn’t working well, what we needed to do and how to do it.”
“There’s a lot of skilled people in this town that can do amazing things, and when they work together, it’s awesome,” he added.
Cronin and the tree board’s other members—Tonya Gwynn, Richard Bergmann and Brad Johnson—who all were on hand for the ceremony.
“We just have a real appreciation for the outdoors, specifically for trees and their value to a community,” Cronin said.
During his own comments to the 15 or so people gathered at Mead, Bergmann said the tree board is assisting with the considerable task of completing an inventory of all trees in town.
“The town appointed us a couple of years ago to do that and part of our duties is to celebrate Arbor Day, we get to plant a tree, and do it in memory of people that we have a lot of respect for,” Bergmann said. “This year’s tree is for Dick Reifers who is not only a great personal friend, but a wonderful human being who was active in the town.”
Cronin described the sycamore as “a perfect tree for this spot.”
“Sycamores tend to enjoy a lot of water,” he said. “But it also is a nice parkland tree, very pretty once it gets mature, and it will grow fast.”
Donations for the tree planting and plaque in honor of Richard Reifers can be made by sending a check made out to the New Canaan Community Foundation. 111 Cherry Street, New Canaan, CT 06840. Please write “2014 Tree Fund” in the memo on your check.