After a dramatic episode in which a 9/11 Memorial Grove dedicated to the Throggs Neck victims of the national tragedy was destroyed by vandals and then replaced by Parks, Monsignor Scanlan High School students have made efforts of their own to beautify the area.
Earlier in the year, outrage occurred when it was discovered that the grove of sapling trees donated by the Prince of Monaco and planted by the Friends of Ferry Point Park with family members of 9/11 victims last fall, were torn out of the ground by cold hearted vandals.
Now over 50 volunteers from nearby Monsignor Scanlan have added to the good work of the Department of Parks and Recreation, which replanted stronger, more mature trees when they rebuilt the 9/11 Memorial Grove. The students planted daffodils, making sure that the area is beautified even further.
“We planted about a thousand daffodils in the 9/11 Memorial Grove around the 15 trees planted in memory of those who perished in the World Trade Center attacks and who are listed on the memorial plaque on E. Tremont Avenue,” said Dotti Poggi, of the Friends of Ferry Point Park. “The Parks Department has given us stronger trees which were enhanced by the planting of daffodils through Monsignor Scanlan High School’s service program.”
The planting occurred on Saturday, November 8, with students braving the drizzle and foggy conditions to make the triangular grove, saluting true American heroes, prettier.
“Students in our service program have been coming to work with Dotti Poggi and the Friends of Ferry Point Park for the last two years and our students have benefited greatly from helping make the park a nicer place,” said Mary Anne Sheridan, service coordinator for Monsignor Scanlan, located just blocks away from the park at 915 Hutchinson River Parkway. “Some of our students weren’t even aware that the park was there. Now, they take their parents and families to Ferry Point Park on weekends.”
Students from Scanlan have been working all year long, cleaning the shoreline along the East River and Westchester Creek.
“Working in Ferry Point Park is obviously rewarding because we are remembering people who passed away on 9/11,” said Roberto Diaz, an 11th grader at Monsignor Scanlan who participated in the daffodil planting. “Our work is honoring all of the people who died, especially the firefighters, and reminds us that they have not died in vain.”
