Wantage receives sapling from World Trade Center Survivor Tree
Wantage. The pear tree will be planted near the township’s World Trade Center memorial, which holds a steel beam from one of the buildings destroyed during the attacks.
| 02 Aug 2021 | 03:38
From left: Gary Margiotta, Michael Restel, Warren Wisse, Susan Weiss, Marion Porrino, Joe Vallone, Mark Snook, Mayor William Gaechter, Joseph Konopinski, and Michael Ferrarella (Photo provided)
The administrator of Wantage Township, Michael Restel, along with a few of the township’s first responders, were invited to John Bowne Agricultural High School in Flushing, Queens, N.Y., on July 14 to receive a sapling from the World Trade Center Survivor Tree.
The Survivor Tree is a pear tree that survived the World Trade Center attacks and was taken off-site to be rehabilitated and returned to the memorial, where it now thrives.
The Wantage sapling is one of 450 descendants of the original tree. It will be planted in Woodbourne Park, near the township’s World Trade Center memorial, which holds a steel beam from one of the buildings destroyed during the attacks.
The township would like to thank retired Sussex County Sheriff’s Lt. Mitch Ellicott for contacting the township and securing the sapling; first responders Mark Snook, chief of the Wantage Township Fire Department; Joe Vallone and Michael Ferrarella of the Wantage Township Fire Department; Marion Porrino, Wantage Township First Aid Squad; Joe Konopinski, Wantage Township Emergency Management; and Michael Restel, township administrator, for traveling to Queens to pick up the sapling.
“We are very proud to be given the honor to place this descendant of the Survivor Tree near our World Trade Center memorial,” says a statement from township officials.