Monday, May 19, 2025
The Wantagh Lions Club continued its tradition of encouraging fourth graders to plant trees in observance of Arbor Day, delivering more than 200 saplings to students in the Wantagh School District.
Larry Lamendola, the club’s first vice president, along with his wife, Eileen, and member Anthony Cortese, distributed Colorado blue spruce and eastern white pine saplings to fourth graders at Mandalay, Forest Lake and Wantagh elementary schools on April 25. Each student received a sapling and instructions on how to plant it.
For Lamendola, the event is a meaningful way to connect young people with the environment.
“I think all districts across Long Island should do this,” he said.
The Wantagh Lions have embraced this Arbor Day tradition since 2016, after member Ben DiMarco proposed the idea of delivering saplings and teaching children how to plant trees. DiMarco, a member of the Arbor Day Foundation — a nonprofit dedicated to planting trees in neighborhoods, cities and forests — has long been passionate about environmental causes.
Since then, Lamendola said, other Lions Clubs, including the Floral Park Lions Club, have expressed interest in starting similar Arbor Day initiatives.
Students are given step-by-step instructions from a pamphlet, guiding them on how to properly care for the plant. These steps include soaking the roots, digging a hole, and placing the sapling in the hole with enough soil and mulch to give it proper nutrition. Making sure the sapling has enough water, according to Lamendola, is crucial to growth.
The Wantagh Lions Club is part of Lions Clubs International, the world’s largest service organization with around 1.4 million members and more than 40,000 clubs worldwide. The organization takes its motto, “We serve,” seriously, and the Wantagh Lions encourage people to make a difference in their community, which includes literally planting roots.
Forest Lake principal Thomas Burke said the club’s Arbor Day event is a great way to get students engaged with the environment. He added that it allows students to give back to the Earth while connecting with the community.”
“It brings our community together for a good cause,” Burke said. “If we can get community involvement with the schools, it makes everything better.”
Mandalay students Reagan Warch and Cali Torres are no strangers to planting trees with their families. Warch said planted a tree three years ago, naming it “My Tree.” Watching it thrive has been a special experience for Reagan.
“I like how in the spring, all the beautiful colors of the flowers grow,” Reagan said.
Cali also planted a sapling in the past and said she is excited to plant her new one.
“I like how we get to plant them with our family and watch them grow,” she said.
Lamendola said the Lions have received “thank you” cards from kids over the years they’ve delivered saplings. Since students bring the saplings home to plant, Lamendola said he hasn’t seen the results of the club’s Arbor Day tradition, but one day he would like to see the progress.
“I’d love to see in the future what happens to the saplings,” Lamendola said. “We always ask every year.”
