On Friday, the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge was able to restore a small slice of normality, after a recent spate of damaging vandalism, with a donation from the New Hampshire Arborists Association replacing a pine run over and destroyed earlier this year.
Cathedral of the Pines Executive Director Kelley Manson said that after several weekends in a row of vandalism at the facility, including broken bottles in the parking lot, burnouts and torn-up grass from a car driving on the lawn and the destruction of a young pine tree planted near the entrance, the cathedral closed off the parking lot with chains when the facility wasn’t open. She said there haven’t been any incidents since.
The cathedral has put out a call for donations to fix the damage, as well as to purchase and install a security camera system. Already, the fund has gained about $4,000 from about 30 donors, Manson said.
Manson said the security system has already been purchased, but the fund will remain open for those who want to help Cathedral of the Pines recoup the cost of the system – $7,200 – and for the costs of cleanup efforts such as reseeding the lawn.
“You can still see the scars from the past damage,” said Fred Cross, maintenance supervisor for Cathedral of the Pines. “We put a lot of work into the grounds here, and it’s disheartening to come in every morning wondering if it’s going to be torn up.”
“But the community has been wonderful in this awful situation,” Manson said.
Last week, a small piece of that lasting damage was repaired. Over the winter, someone drove a truck off the entrance road to the cathedral and several yards into the lawn to mow down a young Japanese pe that had been planted there as part of a volunteer project with the New Hampshire Arborists Association. On Friday, members of the association returned to the cathedral to plant a new tree.
Bob Allen, a board member of the New Hampshire Arborists, said the organization has partnered with the Cathedral of the Pines in the past to plant trees as part of its fall work day, but decided to make a special trip to the cathedral to right the wrong done there, replacing the pine with a Vanderwolf Pyramid pine, a type of limber pine that does well in the exposed, windy conditions of the Cathedral of the Pines’ lawn entrance.
“The first year they sleep, the second they creep, and the third they leap. It should be 15 feet tall in 10 years,” Allen said.
“It’ll be great to have a tree there again,” said Cross, who said he was reminded of the incident every morning when he drove in and saw where the Japanese pine used to be. “I think this is going to be a good step towards ending this violence.”
The New Hampshire Arborists Association were assisted in the planting by members representing Gallagher Tree Service, Lee Gilman & Associates, Bartlett Tree Experts and Eversource.
Those wishing to donate to the Cathedral of the Pines damage fund may do so at cathedralofthepines.org/donation by choosing the “Fix Cathedral Damage Fund” option for where to give direct support, or by sending a check to Cathedral of the Pines, 10 Hale Hill Road, Rindge, NH 03461.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.