By JOSEPH KELLARD
Aebly was torn over the prospect that he'd have to take a chainsaw to the 35-foot-tall, 65-year-old pine tree so he could build an extension and have his in-laws move in with him and his wife, Linda, and their three young children. "I was looking to move it," he said. "I didn't want to chop it down; that was my last option. I've decorated it every year at Christmastime since I moved here nine years ago. It's part of me."
One day when Aebly was driving to Montauk, he noticed a truck hauling large trees whose bottoms were wrapped in burlap sacs, and he realized that a tree the size of his spruce could be transplanted. Later, he noticed an evergreen-shaped sign at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Lakeview Avenue in Malverne that read, "Support the Plant and Pine Campaign at Tanglewood Preserve." Aebly called the Nassau County-run park and said he was interested in donating his tree.
Joe Ferrara, community relations coordinator at Tanglewood, did some research on the Internet and found Oak Grove Tree Spade & Nursery, a Huntington-based company that specializes in moving full-sized trees. Owner Marc Weinstein agreed to donate his company's time and labor to unearth the Aeblys' tree and transplant it to Tanglewood, a 17-acre park in Rockville Centre featuring ponds, streams, nature trails and a wildlife rehabilitation center.
"It's an incredible gesture of generosity and kindness," Ferrara said of Aebly's donation.
In March, Tanglewood kicked off its "Plant a Pine" campaign, to raise money for its Center for Science, Teaching and Learning, in which people donate a pine tree for planting on the park grounds, complete with a plaque with an engraved message on it. "I saw that the park was doing some nice things," Weinstein said by way of explaining why he volunteered his services on a job that generally costs about $2,700. "It was a pleasure."
Weinstein and his crew arrived at the Aeblys' home at about 9 a.m. on June 12, and prepared the tree with a chemical bio-enhancer for the roots to absorb to prevent the tree from going into shock when it was uprooted. Next they tied some of the limbs, and had to cut off some, too. "To watch them take the tree out was incredible," Aebly said. "Marc and his partner shimmed up the tree like squirrels. But every time I saw them
cut a limb off, I went, 'Ohhh.' And at first, when the took it away, it was a little like I was a losing a piece of me."
The crew dug giant blades into the ground around the tree, and then it was lifted and loaded onto a truck for transport to Tanglewood. The tree was planted where an oak once stood in front of the preserve's main office building, a former home built in the 1870s that was recently renovated. "We needed a tree to complement our renovation," Ferrara said. "It's a new home and new life for an old tree."
The Aeblys were on hand to see the planting of their tree at Tanglewood, and they vowed to return. "It felt good seeing them replant it," Joe said. "I'd never heard of Tanglewood, but it's a really nice place. And I'm going to go back to the preserve with the kids now that we know about it. And we'll see our tree there."
Ferrara said that a Malverne family that learned of the Aeblys' donation now plans to donate their own 20-foot pine tree to the preserve. Aebly is encouraged by those who will follow the path he's paved at Tanglewood. "The most important thing about this project," Joe Aebly said, "is that there are a lot of people out there that don't know you can move a tree. Instead of chopping it down, you can move it to another plot on your property ‹ or you can donate it somewhere."
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
