Like many of the adults in her neighborhood, Jill Rotatori is angry.

After a beloved climbing tree in her neighborhood was destroyed, the sixth grade student posted a petition at Reardon Park and Playground for other neighborhood kids to sign to save the trees.

Many of the younger kids in the neighborhood cried when they learned of the their tall climbing tree reduced to a stump. And they were not alone, their parents were just as upset.

"When I drove by the park the other day, tears came to my eyes when I saw what they had done to my son’s favorite tree that he has been climbing since he was small," said Tiny Crotty. "They cut it down and left an ugly stump."

Crotty said Thursday at the bus stop the children were all discussing the beloved tree.

"I was surprised to hear that each child had a story about that tree," said Crotty. "One child talked about a bird’s nest that he saw a little while back that had an egg in it. Another child talked about how she climbed to the top of the tree and could see for miles."

Crotty's own son Nicholas was inspired by the tree to write a poem about it in 2011, called A View From a Tree.

Sitting on a branch of a fir tree

The view is beautiful, majestic.

Beholding the whole park before me.

 

Dim light,

Close to the evening

A crow caws but otherwise no sounds.

Amazing orange sky.

 

A peaceful silence surrounding me.

How old are the baby eagles at the top?

I feel as free as a bird.

No rules, nothing to do.

I am free.

I am free.

I am free.
I am free.

Many parents from the Oaks neighborhood emailed photos of their child(ren) playing and climbing in the tree.

"I'm so upset that they cut down this beautiful tree at Reardon Park!! It looks so bare now. Here are some pics of my daughter in the tree last spring," wrote Angela Caruso.