November 21, 2005
A Holiday Gift: Niabi Zoo Tree Becomes Genesis Remembrance Tree
Davenport, IA – When the search began for a permanent Genesis Remembrance Tree, no one expected to encounter the unique circumstances that will allow the 2005 tree to stand tall in the community for years to come.
As last year, Genesis needed a holiday tree that would honor loved ones who have passed away and heighten awareness of the growing need for hospice care. It also wanted to raise money for the region’s first freestanding hospice house.
Niabi Zoo needed a new home for a healthy Blue Spruce tree that had grown so big it blocked the view of oncoming traffic for visitors exiting the zoo.
The Downtown Partnership and the Bechtel Trust were designing a future park in eastern downtown, part of ongoing efforts to rejuvenate the city’s gateways.
Like a huge holiday package, the 27-foot-tall tree will fulfill all three needs. The 40,000-pound tree was carefully excavated from its Coal Valley, Ill. home of more than 20 years. The live tree – with its 12-foot-wide root ball – was transported to a permanent home in the future East Downtown Gateway Park in Davenport; lovingly transplanted by nationally renowned large-tree experts Davey Tree Service of Houston, Tex.; and, then transformed with approximately 7,500 holiday lights to become the Genesis Remembrance Tree.
The dazzling tree will be located at River Drive and Iowa Street, near the Government Bridge, in a future park that will serve as the downtown area’s eastern point of access for citizens and visitors. The tree will be illuminated for the holiday season in a public celebration on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
A majestic purpose
“This living memorial tree will be as majestic as its purpose and, for years to come, will serve as the focal point for area residents to honor the memory of friends and relatives who are fondly remembered and deeply missed,” said Ken Croken, Genesis Vice President of Corporate Communications & Marketing. “This year, our hope is that the tree also will increase public awareness of the growing need for hospice care services and raise money for the future Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House.”
The first of its kind in the Quad Cities, the 16-bed Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House will enable terminally ill people to end their life’s journey in a comfortable home-like setting with professional caregivers at their side. It will be built in a park-like setting on six acres of land adjacent to Genesis Plaza at 2535 Maplecrest Road in Bettendorf.
The hospice house will be funded through generous gifts from the Genesis VNA and Hospice, the Clarissa C. Cook Home and with the help of a $6 million community-wide capital campaign already underway.
The first Genesis Remembrance Tree debuted last year in Davenport’s LeClaire Park and focused attention on the continuing need for hospice care, a valuable service that each year helps hundreds of Quad City-area residents and their families cope with terminal illness. Moved by the cause, hundreds of people inscribed the names of loved ones into the Genesis “Book of Names” and sponsored one or more tree lights, raising more than $6,000 for hospice services.
“This year, DavenportOne invited the Genesis Remembrance Tree to serve as the centerpiece of the future gateway park because of the tree’s success as a community focal point last year and the noble purpose to which it is dedicated,” Croken added.
A conservationist’s dream
Zoo director Tom Stalf couldn’t be happier that Niabi Zoo’s tree will be spared the axe and continue to grow along with the momentum of a great cause. A few years ago, a firm planning for the redevelopment of the zoo’s parking lot had warned that the tree was becoming a traffic hazard and would have to go.
“Zoos stand for conservation and preservation,” Stalf said. “We felt it was a shame to cut down and remove a healthy tree. At the very least, we wanted to find a Quad City organization that could use the cut tree to celebrate this holiday season.”
It wasn’t until Croken of Genesis came for a tour of the zoo that the conservation-minded Stalf learned that Genesis not only needed a tree; but wanted to transplant a living tree.
“What evolved has become a great partnership between Genesis and Niabi Zoo,” Stalf said. “I love the fact that this wonderful tree will continue to live and not only beautify downtown Davenport but also help raise money for an important cause like hospice care. It’s a win-win situation for everyone – including the tree.”
Brian Jay of Davey Tree Service says the transplanted tree will be re-planted with a steel plate at the bottom of its root ball, so it can more easily be moved again if needed. “The tree will be viable for many years to come.”
Tara Barney, DavenportOne Senior Vice President of Downtown Economic Development, said: “This Genesis tree will be in a very prominent location in a significant gateway not only for downtown but along the River Drive corridor. The park will be developed in the upcoming construction season into an exceptional gateway to downtown and a prominent element of our River Vision planning between Davenport and Rock Island.”
The proposed park, she explained, is part of a larger effort to revitalize the city’s entry points with landscaping, decorative paving and artwork to create a positive first impression for newcomers.
“When we bring a visitor, developer or family into town, what they first perceive about a city has everything to do with their visit and journey through it,” Barney said. “Historically, when people came through downtown Davenport, they drove through working industrial areas. We’re re-positioning these entries to bring powerful, positive and welcoming elements to our gateways that mirror the rest of the development that is going on downtown.”
Come To Tree-Lighting Celebration
The community is invited to a tree-lighting celebration for the Genesis Remembrance Tree on Dec. 7 in downtown Davenport, at River Drive and Iowa Street.
A musical prelude, dedication of the tree and ceremony of remembrance will begin at 4:30 p.m. and conclude with the tree-lighting at 5:25 p.m. “If they choose to do so, we want everyone in the Quad Cities to have an opportunity to dedicate a light in the name of a loved one they want to remember in a special way this holiday season,” said Ken Croken, Genesis Vice President of Corporate Communications & Marketing.
Individual “light” sponsors are invited to make a donation in any amount in the name of a loved one, and all such donations will benefit the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House. In conjunction with the tree project, attendees may also inscribe the names of loved ones into the Genesis “Book of Names” that will be read aloud at closing ceremonies in January.
Anyone who wishes to inscribe a name of a loved one in the book can do so in-person the night of the tree lighting or online anytime. All names will be read aloud in a closing ceremony on Jan. 7 at 4:30 p.m. Once all the names are read, the lights of the tree will be extinguished.
