Harrison looks to replace trees at World War II memorial, plant others elsewhere

Harrison officials want to plant more than three dozen trees in the township, including a spruce that would serve as the community’s Christmas tree.

Commissioners are applying for another round of trees through the TreeVitalize program, which has helped the township plant about 150 trees in recent years, according to Commissioner Chuck Dizard.

Plantings have become community events with residents volunteering to help.

The township wants to plant 36 trees along Broadview Boulevard and three by the World War II Honor Roll memorial at Freeport and Springhill roads this fall, Dizard said.

Three large trees at the memorial will be removed and replaced with three smaller, flowering trees, Dizard said. A committee that has been working on the memorial’s restoration has recommended taking the large trees out.

“The three large trees at the memorial obstruct the view of the memorial, and if any branches break the memorial could be seriously damaged,” Dizard said.

Banners honoring veterans are being sold to help pay for the memorial’s restoration. About half of the 120 to 130 available banners have been sold, said Eric Bengel, a member of the memorial committee.

The committee’s goal is to have the memorial — including new panels with names etched in granite — done for Memorial Day, Bengel said. Officials hope to finish landscaping and other improvements in time for the memorial’s 75th anniversary in October.

In addition to the flowering trees, the township plans to plant a Norway spruce near the memorial that would serve as the township’s Christmas tree. Harrison will do that on its own and not through TreeVitalize, Dizard said.

The living tree would replace the cut tree that has been placed in recent years on the grounds of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament at Broadview Boulevard and Montana Avenue.