Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 11, 1995 TAG: 9509110061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS THE NEWS & ADVANCE
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
Adrian Gagesteyn spent 29 years at the New York Aquarium taking care of seals, penguins and marine turtles.
Now that he's retired and living in Lynchburg, he's transferred his caretaking instincts to the maples, magnolias and oaks along Rivermont Avenue.
Early-morning motorists have probably caught a glimpse of Gagesteyn, pruning shears in hand, perched on his special 10-foot, three-legged orchard ladder. He's one of 15 tree stewards in Lynchburg who volunteer their time to help maintain trees planted along the streets and in city parks.
Gagesteyn is focusing his attention on the trees planted along Rivermont Avenue from V.E.S. Road to the former Seven Hills School. So far this summer, he has pruned about 80 trees, shaping them to grow around utility wires.
Having spent most of his life in New York and New Jersey, Gagesteyn said he learned to love trees because they were a rarity. He spent much of his free time in Central Park before moving to Lynchburg, but now he has no trouble finding trees wherever he goes.
``This is paradise,'' he said. ``People here don't know what a city is.
``It's a tough life being a tree on a city street,'' he said as he examined a maple, its branches within easy reach of a 6-year-old. ``But nobody is abusing these trees at all. In Brooklyn, this branch would have never made it. Nobody hangs on it here. It's Lynchburg.''
But even Lynchburg's trees need a little TLC, particularly during the first two to five years after they're planted.
``There's a tremendous need, because the trees are being planted and they're not getting any training or any pruning afterward,'' said Ted Harris, one of the people who helped organize the Lynchburg tree stewards.
Earl Pickett, Lynchburg's urban forester, is happy to have the extra help, particularly since he doesn't have a regular work crew to help him care for trees on city property.
``It's just me and 25,000 to 30,000 trees,'' he said.
The ice storms in 1994 and new landscaping projects along the Lynchburg Expressway have added to the work load.
Pickett said the tree stewards also help the city maintain its status as a Tree City U.S.A., a designation awarded by the National Arbor Day Foundation. Lynchburg is the third oldest Tree City in Virginia, and the city must meet requirements on replanting, tree maintenance and citizen involvement to keep that title.
In addition to Gagesteyn's Rivermont Avenue project, tree stewards prune and care for trees in the City Cemetery and along the Expressway, assist Habitat for Humanity volunteers with landscaping and help Pickett with a citywide tree inventory.
Pickett has been working on the inventory for more than four years, and that represents only about one-third of the total project. Tree stewards are helping him to count, identify and diagnose the health of every tree on city property.
It's not enough to have helpers who like trees, Pickett said. The tree stewards are particularly valuable because they have been trained to care for trees properly.
The Lynchburg tree stewards had their origin in the Keep Lynchburg Beautiful Commission, but now are in a separate group. Its members received a $4,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry to hold 30 hours of training classes this spring. The 15 graduates are now obligated to perform at least 50 hours of volunteer work a year.
A second training program is scheduled to begin in November, and current tree stewards are recruiting new volunteers.
``We need 30 Adrians, and in 10 years we'd have the most beautiful Tree City in the United States,'' Harris said.
``It's a little more than a basic class,'' said tree steward Chris Wiley. ``The beauty of this is this course gives these people good information they can use as part of this volunteer group, but also at home.''
Wiley said he hopes to attract professional landscapers interested in using the class as part of a continuing education program.
The group also is interested in retired tree stewards who have extra time to give, but Harris said the only real requirement for taking the class is a love for trees.
``We're all really tree lovers,'' he said. ``It's in our genetic makeup. It might even be in our soul.''
by CNB