Remembrance Tree Returns

The holiday season tends to be a time where we miss our lost loved ones a little more than usual. So what better way to remember them than by decorating a tree in their name? Rockaway’s Remembrance Tree is back and waiting for you to hang a shell in memory of your loved one who has passed.

On December 7, the Remembrance Tree returned to the beach on Beach 106th Street. The project is spearheaded by Suzanne Campbell O’Rahilly, but it is a community effort. The tree was donated by First Congregational Church. Barbara Buffolino retrieved and kept the tree safe until it was ready to be put up by a neighbor named Eddie, with the help of NYC Parks which made the tree more accessible, and Alice and Ray helped string the solar lights. O’Rahilly set up some baskets with shells and markers for folks to write the name of a lost loved one and hang it up, but anyone is welcome to make their own shell and bring it to hang on the tree. Some already hanging on the tree have photos of loved ones.

So feel free to remember your loved one this holiday season, by hanging a shell for a loved one or placing it in hearts on the sand.