Treez 4 Zeh Celebrates The Planting of Those Trees

Maggie Del Re got to celebrate the fruits of her efforts on Friday, when students, parents, residents and town officials met to celebrate the Treez 4 Zeh at the The ceremony marks the culmination of a week's worth of planting trees that had replaced trees ruined in this past October's Nor'easter.

Treez 4 Zehd was founded by Del Re, a fifth grader at the school. Getting other students and parents involved, as well as local sponsors, she exceeded her original goal of $2,000 and hit $3,000, enough to plant 12 new trees. 

On Friday, the entire Zeh staff and student body was present, as well as several donors, parents, town selectmen, Bigelow Nurseries, DPW employees, and the assistant superintendent.  The selectmen presented Del Re with a special commendation.

Here is Del Re's speech, courtesy of her mom, Jodi.

Hi, I’m Maggie Del Re. I’m a fifth grader at Zeh School, as many of you already know. I’m 11, and I love trees!

Looking back at the snowstorm in October, I remember how fun it was at first. Playing in the snow, making ghost snowmen for Halloween, and sipping hot cocoa by the fire. But in the morning when we woke up to cold, powerless homes, and yards that looked more like the sight of a hurricane than an innocent snowstorm, the fun died. We were all robbed of our power for several days, and school and work was canceled. Even playing in the snow wasn’t fun because when you came in you couldn’t warm up. But once the power was on, the yards and streets were cleared, and school and work continued, only one problem remained. The trees.

Everywhere where a blossoming tree full of leaves and fruit once grew, there was nothing. When I hopped off the bus at school, instead of walking by the trees, I walked by the stumps. It was so sad to see. I couldn’t stand it. So that day at computer lab, I typed up a paragraph about how I wanted to start a fundraiser to get the trees back. I showed it to my teacher Mrs. Phipps, and Ms. McClure and asked if I could go to the office to give it too Mrs. Whitten. Mrs. Phipps and Ms. McClure nodded their heads so I scampered down, with big thoughts in my head! When I showed Mrs. Whitten and Mrs. Bryant, they said it was a great idea, and handed me a jar shaped like a bear. This was the start of something big.

When I got back to the classroom, with the jar in my arms, right away all of my friends asked “what is that for?” After explaining, right away people started handing me pocket money, extra lunch money, and anything else they could think of and put it in the jar. After school my friend, Morghan Dion, came over to my house and we walked around my neighborhood to ask for money. By the end of the day we had $64.39! It seems like a lot, but with 10 trees to replace, and a total cost of around $2,000, that was nothing.

 I came to school on Monday with over $150, a decorated jar, and a few posters to put around the school. My parents and I also made a Facebook page, and opened a bank account. But school donations and Facebook friends wouldn’t be enough to raise over $2,000. On Tuesday, when I had a guitar lesson, I asked the owner of the store, who happens to be my teacher, if he wanted to donate. Jacks Guitar Garage donated $20.

My mom and I walked around the strip mall where Jack’s is located, and lots of people donated including , Anthony Andrew Jewelers, , Northborough Computers, Children’s Dentistry of Northborough, Serenity Nail Salon, s, Central One Credit Union, Northborough Gulf, Hodge Associates, Balloons All Over, Personal , Liquid Ice, and Capital Environmental.

A very special thanks to Westborough Wine and Convenience, for donating and putting out a donation jar! All the fourth graders can be proud of themselves for collecting cans, to raise around $150. Thanks fourth graders! After we had enough money my family and I visited Bigelow Nurseries, an AWESOME place where they grow trees and other plants, to get some trees. Pat Bigelow, the owner of Bigelow, made a deal with us. She said she would match our offer. We accepted the offer without hesitation.

Later Pat’s son, Jeff Bigelow, showed us around the nursery. He explained what trees would be good and what trees might not be so good. We decided on pink Sargent Cherry trees, and Red Maples. The Sargent Cherries will look especially good in Spring because they will flower up with yummy-smelling pink blossoms. The Red Maple will look awesome in fall because of the bright color of its large leaves. I hope you enjoy the trees as much as I do. Watching them grow will be so cool. 

Thank you to everyone who donated!