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A Tree for Thee founder Mary Louise McGraw said last week there is a lot of enthusiasm for the project that aims to marry newly planted trees in Dunkirk city parks with memorial plaques.
Speaking at a Dunkirk Common Council meeting, McGraw also made a point to mention the participation of city school P-TECH.
"This is coming along amazing," she said. "I am getting now three and four emails a day. One lady from Florida wanted five trees. Somebody from Illinois -- these are all people who used to live here, and they're all DHS Class of whatever, they're beer drinking buddies somewhere along the way.
"Anyway, the enthusiasm is picking up, and I have this feeling since our deadline is next Friday, March 15, this is gonna be like tax time. Everybody's gonna do this next Wednesday or Thursday and we will get flooded."
She said P-TECH will be creating the plaques for the memorials. "If you look at it, it's just beautiful. This is a class that is instructed by Nick Anson, it's a real life class and he said he wanted community involvement, and the kids are really excited. It's an elective class called Material Processing."
McGraw continued, "As we get our applications, we forward the actual plaque part to them, they're gonna do their thing, it'll come back to us and it'll go on the paver."
The plaques will be black, eight inches by eight inches, with silver lettering etched in by lasers. The white concrete pavers that they will be set into will be 10 inches by 10 inches. The pavers will be flush with the ground so they don't obstruct mowing.
"I'm very proud and excited that we can get a school involved like this, that is not really well known in this area," McGraw said. "I hope it becomes notorious after this."
She invited anyone with questions about the program to email atreeforthee@yahoo.com. Applications are available at the Dunkirk library, the Dunkirk City Clerk's office, and both the Dunkirk and Fredonia branches of Lake Shore Savings bank. McGraw said she also has applications.
McGraw thanked the council for passing a resolution to give the city's blessing for A Tree For Thee. She specifically thanked Councilmember James Stoyle for a donation by his club, the Dunkirk Exempts.