Family history rooted in Woodmere

Patricia Mertz, a former Hewlett resident who moved to Maryland in 1997, comes back every year to visit the massive 49-year-old copper beech tree that is planted outside to the Woodmere Education Center in Woodmere because of her personal connection to it and what it means to the community.

The tree is planted in honor of her father, Patrick Winders, who was a custodian at 1 Johnson Place when the building that now houses the district’s administrative offices was a middle school.

Winders first applied to work at the school in 1936 at the height of the Great Depression and was hired 11 years. He worked there until he died in 1966. The sapling was planted on Arbor Day a year later to commemorate Winders commitment to the school. The plaque at the base of the tree reads: “In memory of Patrick Winders, who served our needs as a friend for years. Woodmere Elementary School Pupils, April 1967.”

At the Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education meeting on Aug. 9, Barbara McNiff, executive director for human resources, said Winders was heavily involved in the school and took his job seriously. When he first started, he was earning $2,800 in 1947 and $6,735 19 years later, McNiff said.

The Winders family was given a handmade book put together by the art department that documents 1967 Arbor Day and Winders career at the school. Mertz donated the book to the district a few years ago. “I gave it to the school because I felt that’s where it needed to be,” she said.

McNiff decided that the best place to keep the book would be the Center for Adult Life Enrichment that is on the Hewlett High School campus in the old carriage house, where there are other historical photos chronicling the district’s history. She announced that they are planning to make a display case for the book and host a dedication ceremony in the future.