SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A small business and local non-for-profit chipped in thousands of dollars to complete a campaign to replace a tree felled in the heart of Eastwood last week.
Mars Jewelry and Woodlawn Cemetery donated a combined $3,750 to the Eastwood Neighborhood Association’s effort to plant a new tree in the park at the intersection of James Street and Grant Boulevard.
A driver struck the tree on New Year’s Eve, toppling it.
Neighbors banded together last week to replace the tree, which has stood in the small park for more than 30 years. A GoFundMe page attracted donations ranging from $10 to $500.
Monday, two large donations from Mars Jewelry and Woodlawn Cemetery put the group over its goal.
Mars Jewelry chipped in $1,250 and Woodlawn Cemetery gave $2,500. In all, nearly 60 donors contributed to the cause, raising $6,415 in less than a week.
Bill Marsallo Sr., who owns the jewelry shop at 2519 James St. with his son, Bill Marsallo Jr., said the tree is a staple of Eastwood. The business has been in Eastwood more than 40 years and was started by Marsallo Sr.'s father.
“It was my son’s idea,” Marsallo Sr. said when reached at the store Tuesday. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
Steven Sloane, superintendent of Woodlawn Cemetery on Grant Boulevard, said the Eastwood neighborhood has supported the cemetery for years. He wanted to support the neighborhood in return.
The cemetery was established in 1881 and serves about 500 Central New York families each year, Sloane said.
Eastwood Neighborhood Association President Jimmy Monto said there’s now enough money to install a new 16-foot tree as well as some type of barrier to prevent cars from hitting it in the future. That barrier might be something like large flower planters, he said, but no decision has been made. The association is working with city officials to make a plan.
Monto said he’s also talking with the city about beefing up the electrical capabilities at the park to better light the tree.
