Huntington is 'Tree City USA'; Little Shelter Celebrates 85 Years

Huntington Regains 'Tree City USA' Designation

Huntington regained its Arbor Day Foundation 'Tree City USA' designation after a year long effort and celebrated by planting four trees at the Town's Breezy Park. The planting also marked the start of Huntington’s landscaping effort at Breezy Park, an active recreation area where many people will have a chance to appreciate and experience the Town’s greenery.

To qualify for Tree City USA designation, communities must meet standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters. Nationally, there are more than 3,400 communities with the designation, including 99 in New York State 17 others on Long Island.

Obtaining Tree City USA designation was part of the Green Huntington tree management and planting program initiative that is an important element of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. The program entails enlisting both public and private support; updating and extending the inventory of trees to all properties owned and managed by the Town; enhancing tree planting and maintenance of town landscapes (streets, parks, and other public places); initiating partnerships with community organizations, institutions, and other groups to promote tree planting on non town-owned properties; working with public utilities to minimize potential damage to trees in proximity to overhead and underground utility lines; and establishing tree planting and maintenance guidelines for public places and private properties.

Little Shelter Celebrates 85 Years

Little Shelter celebrated 85 years of service and success in caring for abandoned and abused animals last Sunday. The no-kill animal shelter located in Huntington has been in operation since 1927 and placed over 2000 dogs and cats rescued from impending euthenasia at municipal pounds into loving homes last year. At Little Shelter, every animal has a name, cats live communally in the new cattery facility and dogs receive daily sessions of training, socialization and exercise away from their kennel rooms. All prospective homes and families are carefully screened before adoption.

Cold Spring Harbor 50 Years

The Cold Spring Harbor School System celebrated 50 years in session last weekend with special events involving parents, faculty and alumni. The school opened on in 1962 with 278 students and has since bloomed to a six-year comprehensive public school with over 1037 students, 95 percent of which attend college. It has consistently placed highly amongst public schools on Long Island, ranking in the top 100 of Newsweek’s top 1300 High School list.

Cherry Trees Stand For Fallen Veterans

Forty years ago, members of Women in Support of our Men in Vietnam dedicated a living memorial on the Village Green to pay tribute to forty Huntington men killed in combat. At that time, forty Kwanzan Cherry Trees were planted and became one of the nation’s first memorials established to honor those lost in Vietnam.
 
In October 2010 when Councilman Mark Cuthbertson and the Town of Huntington hosted the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall here in Huntington, additional Kwanzan Cherry Trees were added to honor those soldiers later killed or declared missing in action and to replace those trees that succumbed to disease and/or damage.
 
Councilman Mark Cuthbertson and Don McKay, Director of Parks and Recreation recently went to the Village Green to see the forty-nine trees in full bloom. “The Village Green memorial is a living tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice serving our country in Vietnam,” Councilman Cuthbertson said. “These beautiful trees will ensure that the memorial never fades or loses its intended purpose of four decades ago—to honor those lost in battle.”

Huntington Seeks Vietnam Veterans and Members of Women in Support of Our Men in Vietnam for May 27 Ceremony

The Town of Huntington is looking for members of the group Women in Support of Our Men in Vietnam as well as Huntington combat veterans who received support packages from the group, as the Town gets set to commemorate the group’s creation 40 years ago of the first Vietnam memorial in the United States.

“As we pay tribute to those who lost their lives in service of our country, we also wish to honor those who survived and those who provided support from home,” Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone said. “We invite all Vietnam veterans and members of Women in Support of Our Men in Vietnam, as well as their families, to join us at our annual solemn ceremony. We hope they will contact us so they can be properly recognized.”

The recognition will be the centerpiece of the town’s annual Memorial Day wreath ceremony on May 27, beginning at 9:30 at Veterans Plaza in from of Town Hall, 100 Main Street.

Among those scheduled to attend is Joy Wellman, who founded Women in Support of Our Men in Vietnam and who authored a book, Proudly We Hail, chronicling the group’s formation and contributions, including creating, in 1972, the first living Vietnam memorial in the United States; a grove of 43 Kwanzan cherry trees, representing the 43 Huntingtonians who had died in Vietnam to that point. In 2010, the grove, on the Village Green, was expanded to 49 trees to memorialize soldiers later killed or declared missing in action. Wellman currently lives in Florida.

Women in Support of Our Men in Vietnam was founded in 1966 and continued until the release in 1973 of Huntington’s prisoner of war, Capt. David Baker. All told, more than 400 women participated in the group’s projects.

Members of the group and Vietnam veterans who received packages from it are asked to call Carol Rocco, the Town’s coordinator of veteran’s services, at 631-351-3012.