REAPING SEEDS OF DEDICATION; AGOURA HILLS GROUP TO LAUNCH PROGRAM TO REPLACE CITY TREES.Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer Working to beautify city streets, a team of Agoura Hills volunteers will begin planting dozens of donated saplings Thursday, an effort they say helps establish their roots in the community. Participants of TREE - Tree Replanting Enhances Environment - will begin replacing the 86 mature liquidambar trees that lined Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. Boulevard and Kanan Road until root problems forced their removal last summer. Collecting donations from residents to buy the saplings and to have them planted by professional arborists, the 3-year-old TREE program has replanted more than 250 trees lost to uprooting, fierce winds, infestation infestation /in·fes·ta·tion/ (-fes-ta´shun) parasitic attack or subsistence on the skin and/or its appendages, as by insects, mites, or ticks; sometimes used to denote parasitic invasion of the organs and tissues, as by helminths. or neglect. ``It really gives us a feeling of having roots in this community,'' said Carol Rosenberg, who co-chairs TREE with Darlene Ballman. TREE already has raised more than $10,000 for the 15-gallon trees, most of them London plane Noun 1. London plane - very large fast-growing tree much planted as a street tree Platanus acerifolia genus Platanus, Platanus - genus of large monoecious mostly deciduous trees: London plane; sycamore sycamores and various types of oaks. The city turned to Rosenberg and Ballman in 1994 to head a program that would collect donations to replace the trees along city streets and in its six community parks. ``The program was started after a series of budget decisions made at the state level. Cities were losing funds, and with priority to road maintenance and other necessary services, money could not be diverted di·vert v. di·vert·ed, di·vert·ing, di·verts v.tr. 1. To turn aside from a course or direction: Traffic was diverted around the scene of the accident. 2. for trees,'' said Brian Torsney, the city's director of the Department of Public Works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. . More than 100 donations have been made over the years. And each $50 donation buys a 15-gallon tree as well as an aluminum plaque that can carry a dedication selected by the contributor. At its monthly luncheon Thursday, the Agoura Chamber of Commerce will award its Agoura Beautiful Award to TREE and to Ballman and Rosenberg. ``People like the idea of beautifying their community. The city budget would not permit the replanting of these trees,'' said Connie Raabe, a member of the chamber board. ``But this program is going into the parks and lining the streets with the donations from residents.'' Agoura Hills residents Susan Eddy and Martha Terwilliger and a group of friends donated two trees to be planted along Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The plaques will be inscribed in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. in memory of Midge midge, name for any of numerous minute, fragile flies in several families. The family Chironomidae consists of about 2,000 species, most of which are widely distributed. The herbivorous larvae are found in all freshwaters; the larvae of some species live in saltwater. Guinn, an Agoura Hills resident who died last year. ``We thought it would be a good way to honor a friend who lived in the community,'' Eddy said. ``Several of us decided to do it together. We wanted to walk by it every day and remember.'' Local developer Vance Moran has donated eight trees to the program. In addition to honoring his former business partner, Arthur Whizin, Moran said he has dedicated trees to his own family members. ``It's a nice program to honor your loved ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers loved ones love npl and at the same time to see trees growing in your community,'' Moran said. The tree-planting ceremony will be at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Kanan Road. Parking will be available in the Ralphs shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into . For more information, call (818) 597-7327. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (color) Darlene Ballman, left, and Carol Rosenberg lead Tree Replanting Enhances Environment. Evan Yee/Daily News |
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