Two Penn Hills groups came together recently to beautify the municipality’s Alcoma neighborhood with freshly planted trees.
The Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission held its Front Yard Tree project, along with the Penn Hills Freemasons, the morning of May 15.
An estimated 17 trees were planted in Alcoma homeowners’ yards, including 14 on Alcoma and Tunnelview drives and Camera Place. Three were planted along Saltsburg Road for the 3 Lakes Golf Course, Raborn said.
“The reason we do this is because trees add not only beauty to the neighborhood, but they also have a host of environmental benefits and increase property values,” said Kathy Raborn, president of Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission.
“It’s nice knowing we are doing some good for this planet through planting trees.”
Stephanie Pugliese, a Penn Hills resident, was one of the individuals who received a tree in her yard. It was her first time participating in the event.
“It’s wonderful they want to beautify Penn Hills and keep the city flourishing,” Pugliese said. “It’s a really great way to make that happen in a small way.”
Around 25 people volunteered to help with the effort. The Penn Hills Freemasons (Infinity Lodge No. 546) made up half of the group.
“We were happy to be a part of the public service,” said Lyon Zeibak, a member of Infinity Lodge No. 546. The Freemasons’ last service project involved building park benches in Turner-Friendship Park in 2010.
Zeibak is also a volunteer for the Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission. He invited the Freemasons to volunteer after seeing Raborn’s post about the event. The Freemasons also donated $700 to pay for the trees and supplies.
“We’ve been wanting to do a lot of service projects for a long time, and it’s a great project for the enironment,” he said.
Raborn encourages people interested in volunteering for a tree planting project or looking to have a tree planted in their yard to contact the commission by visiting their website at pennhillsstc.org.
“We are always looking for streets and neighborhoods to have these projects,” Raborn said.
