Red Cross receives Arbor Day gift

The American Red Cross Manatee County Chapter in Lakewood Ranch has done so much to help others, that VFW Post 12055 of Bradenton and Green's Tree and Landscape Maintenance, Inc., decided it was time to do a little giving back.

Ken Green, who owns the tree service and is senior vice commander for the VFW post, had noticed the trees in front of the Red Cross building on Malachite Drive needed attention. The Red Cross allows the VFW to use its facility for its meetings.

On April 29, Arbor Day, Green and his son, Tyson Green, pulled their truck up at the Red Cross building and went to work. Although Ken and Tyson Green weren't planting trees, as is the custom on Arbor Day, they said it was apropos in making sure the trees were healthy and neat.

Ken Green, a Navy veteran and a certified arborist for 25 years, said the work, which would have cost almost $1,000, was called "a canopy raising." They thinned trees, mostly live oaks along with a few elms and maples, on the bottom. "It's more of a maintenance issue," Green said. "The branches can scratch cars or hit people in the face."

About 10 to 12 trees were thinned. Green's Tree and Landscape Maintenance, Inc., donated their work and the VFW paid for disposal charges.