By Darlene Mae O’Connor
“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree”- Joyce Kilmer
Since the days of my childhood when I would contentedly lie in the grass watching the canopy of trees above me tell stories with the wind, their soft swishing and swaying ensuing as it passed through, I knew I was blessed. Now, all these years later and too many to count, I know I was right. I know, as all of us raised within the shelter of glorious color and living shade do, that we are recipients of a very special gift, the gift of “Tree Spirit”. The gift to feel things more than to see them. To conceptualize ideas and truths that we were never formally taught and the strange connectedness we all share in that words cannot offer explanation for.
This powerful and inexplicable connection was on display this past Saturday. As our beloved and passionate City Arborist Dan Stone, recited his own poem to commemorate the kept promise made by our mayor, “Coach Eddie” and our committed council members, to honor the service of the trees that once lined the Third Street corridor, I wept. My tears were for the canopy I once strolled under as an adolescent, for the unparalleled splendor and majesty of the 100 +year old stanchions, once trusted by the heavens to hold their banners high and for the goodbye I could not say, as I was all those many miles away. However, these simple tears of remembering soon gave way to salty drops of joy at the prospect of these new saplings delivering the same comfort and message of hope, that was the standard of those that grew so tall and strong throughout the years of my youth, for future generations to come.
Our friend and keeper of the light of all things beautiful about Chautauqua County; Leslie Calimeri was the recipient of the “Joan P. Sheevory Citizen Forester Award” and as she humbly accepted her plaque of recognition, she also swallowed a tear or two. Leslie, truly possesses “Tree Spirit” and in the tradition of one who is so gifted, she is compelled to share it. She has pieces and works created from the once life-giving trunks of those honorable trees on display in her Gallery on Main Street (Chautauqua Art Gallery, 318 North Main Street, Jamestown, NY 14701). Like her contemporaries of these Pearl City Hills, she will serve our heritage by preserving what will always be special about our glorious home; the indescribable connectedness of our roots.
I have always been proud to say I was born and raised in Jamestown, New York and though I raised my sons in S.W. Florida, I am grateful to be home and I am even more proud today than ever. When asked as I often am, why come back to Jamestown? my response is the same; “Look around you, if you can’t catch your beath in this city, just step outside and the trees will breathe for you. It is hard to find a more beautiful place on the planet, I know, I spent a number of years trying.
