North Shore Newsby Vera Stone
North Shore Outdoor Circle has been busy despite 6 months of lockdown. We have been working hard to keep the North Shore clean, green, and beautiful in our own way.
If you noticed the activity at Weed Circle on Saturday September 12, you were seeing the culmination of a great deal of work by a lot of people. At the end of the day, there were two new beautiful trees at Weed Circle. They are planted there in memory of two of our North Shore neighbors. Our past president Patsy Gibson was instrumental in making the NSOC what it is today, and her favorite color was yellow. It took us 4 years, but we finally found a Ni‘i Gold tree to plant in her memory.
The history of this tree is complex and we found it with the help of the Pang family.
Sadly, the reason the Pang family was so involved was that they had reached out to us, wanting to do something to honor a family member, Noah Pang, who tragically lost his life recently.
Weed Circle is a driving park that should be enjoyed as you travel around it, so we had to inform the Pang family that they could not have a physical memorial in that spot.
They understood, and volunteered to help us with what could be done. Tree planting.
Many people had expressed anger on Facebook earlier this year about the removal of the banyan tree in the center of Weed Circle. The tree had been
infested with gull wasps. The NSOC contacted an arborist who confirmed that the tree was not salvageable. We worked with the State of Hawaii, got permits, and had the tree removed. We were worried that the gull wasps would infect the other trees in the Circle.
Although we lost that magnificent banyan tree in the center, you might notice the ring of trees around the edge, There are over seven different kinds of trees now, including Singapore plumeria, lauhala, rainbow shower trees, palms, and most recently a Queen’s White and a Ki‘i Gold, provided by the Pang Family. The whole family came together to donate the two trees. They provided heavy equipment and volunteers to dig the holes, plant the trees, help repair the irrigation system, and have volunteered to continue watering the trees so that they take strong root.
NSOC provided an arborist – Doug Demoss, who volunteered his time and expertise. We also provided the irrigation and landscape services of an expert, Jeff Dorr of Dorr to Paradise. Those trees will play a beautiful part in greeting people who come to Haleiwa. When life goes back to some semblance of normal we plan to have a celebration of life and growth for
the trees at the circle.
Your North Shore Outdoor Circle is doing a lot to make the north shore – clean, green, and beautiful. All of this takes money. We are lucky to have volunteers, however we provide funds for grooming, recognition, preservation, and for equipment like irrigation. Please consider joining us. The money that you spend on your membership, 25 dollars per year, goes a long way toward keeping our North Shore looking good. That’s our kuleana.
If you have any questions, please like us on Facebook, reach out to us on the website at www. outdoorcircle.org or email us at nsoutdoorcircle@hawaii. rr.com