Trees donated in honor of Newtown victims

As Richard Carbonaro addressed a small crowd outside Brookside Elementary School over the weekend, a warm early-fall sun shone on 26 new trees around the school’s property.

Carbonaro thanked those who helped him, his wife, Barbara, and his neighbor Karen Rycyk raise money to purchase and plant 26 trees at the school, in remembrance of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012, that claimed the lives of 26 students and teachers.

Shortly after the tragedy, Carbonaro recalled, he knew he wanted to organize something on behalf of the Baldwin community to memorialize those who died. He floated the idea of donating trees to his wife and Rycyk, who quickly voiced their support. So Carbonaro wrote a letter to the Board of Education in the winter of 2013, and got the go-ahead to move forward.

Barbara Carbonaro and Rycyk mailed out fliers and reached out to community members and business owners, seeking donations. In about four months, they raised roughly $1,500.

Richard Carbonaro was tasked with buying and transporting the trees — including two charter oaks, Connecticut’s state tree. All 26 trees, including dogwoods, weeping cherry and crape myrtles, were planted around Brookside shortly before last winter. Carbonaro said that two are in danger of not making it through another winter, but the others have flourished. All, aside from the charter oaks, are flowering trees, and feature bright colors in the spring and summer.

A bronze plaque, commemorating the victims of Sandy Hook, was also part of the donation. It was mounted on a granite stone and now sits in front of the flagpole by the entrance to Brookside.

Rycyk said she wanted to get involved with the project to brighten up the school grounds and to remember the lives tragically lost. “Maybe when our kids walk by and read [the plaque] it will stick in their minds,” she said.

Barbara Carbonaro said she was looking forward to watching the trees grow over the years. “It’s nice to see it completed,” she said, “and it will be even nicer as the years go by and the trees get bigger.” She and her husband had donated an oak tree after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, and that tree, planted by the parking lot entrance off Stanton Avenue, is now about 40 feet tall.

Superintendent Dr. Shari Camhi said she was thankful for the community’s efforts in making this project a reality. “These trees now grace and grow on the grounds of Brookside School as a gesture of good will for our district,” she said.

Local residents and board members attended the ceremony and thanked the trio for their hard work. They, in turn, thanked the community for making donations.

“It makes us feel good that we did something for our community,” Rycyk said, “and our community helped to do it as well.”