Date: Fri 14-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Oklahoma-City-Tree-town-hall

Full Text:

REMEMBERING OKLAHOMA CITY with photo:

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

A red bud tree, the state tree of Oklahoma, was planted in front of Edmond

Town Hall this week in memory of the victims of the bombing of the federal

building in Oklahoma City on April 19.

The tree was suggested by Watha Kollmeyer, an Oklahoma City native who has

lived in Newtown for the past two years. It was donated and planted by Chuck

Newman, proprietor of Planter's Choice Nurseries, a wholesale nursery in

Newtown.

Mrs Kollmeyer and her two sons, Josiah, 3, and Kodiak, 2, attended the

memorial planting ceremony which was similar to one held by President Clinton

in Washington.

"This was a really good thing for our community to do," First Selectman Bob

Cascella said as Edmond Town Hall employees Michael and Christopher Zilinek

helped Mr Newman plant the tree. Mrs Kollmeyer and her sons then tied a large

blue ribbon on it.

"This disaster dramatically affected many people," she said. "This tree gives

us something to look at and remember."

Mrs Kollmeyer, who planted a similar tree at her house on Silver City Road,

said her father called her in about an hour after the bombing.

"My dad's first words were `we're okay' and then he started weeping," she

said. "I thought a tornado had hit the city. Then he said they blew up the

federal building."

Mrs Kollmeyer's parents live about 12 miles from the federal building. Their

house shook from the blast. Her brother, Attorney Vernon Hyde, had parked his

car across the street from the federal building shortly before the building

blew up. He was not injured but he couldn't reclaim his car for nearly a week

because it was part of the crime scene.

"I lived in Oklahoma City for 27 years and worked just a couple of blocks from

the federal building," Mrs Kollmeyer said. "This wasn't a place like Beruit or

Somalia. It was a place with very normal people who lived a very normal life.

That's what made it such a shock."

Mrs Kollmeyer said the red bud tree is one of the earliest spring bloomers,

with distinctive "teeny, tiny buds" that appear as winter wanes.

A special fund also was established by the town through the Newtown Savings

Bank to aid the victims of the Oklahoma City disaster. The fund is still

accepting donations but will be closed and the money disbursed on Monday, July

17. Anyone wishing to make a donation may do so at the Main Street office of

the bank. Mr Hyde sent a list of agencies in Oklahoma City which are assisting

in the disaster relief effort and would help to channel the money to suitable

recipients.