Mark Bays cares for the Survivor Tree, an 80-year-old American elm that survived the Oklahoma City bombing which occurred 20 years ago in April.
Bays spoke at Tree City USA awards ceremony held at the Toledo Zoo on April 29. At the occasion, the Village of Ada and ONU were both honored for the planning, growth, and care of trees.
During lunch, Bays met with Monty Siekerman who is familiar with memorials built in memory of those lost in disasters. Siekerman's daughter, Amy, and her husband Kyle Miller perished aboard TWA Flight 800 the next year. The memorial for the plane crash is located on Long Island.
Both Bays and Siekerman agreed that memorials are important as a means of remembrance of loved ones lost.
In his talk, Bays showed slides of the Survivor Tree growing in the parking lot before the building exploded, as well as slides of it severely damaged after the blast.
Today, with great love and care, the elm thrives.
Seeds from The Survivor Tree are collected each fall, then grown. About 400 seedlings are given away each spring on the anniversary of the terrorist attack. Relatives of survivors get first pick of the plants, then the remaining starts are given to the public . A few are sent to special gardens throughout the U.S each year.
The Survivor Tree is now old, but provides beauty and shade for the remainder of the memorial area.
When the tree finally succumbs, it will be replaced with one of the trees that have been started from one of its seeds and has been growing for several years.
