World Trade Center survivor tree to be planted at school

SEBRING, Fla.  — When Ellie Brinling of Sebring visited the World Trade Center memorial she was impressed by the so-called survivor tree.

“It was called the survivor tree because the twin towers fell on it and its still alive,” Ellie, a second-grader at Cracker Trail Elementary School, said Tuesday.

Her father, Tim Brinling, said Ellie insisted during a visit to the memorial last November on bringing home a seed from the callery pear tree. He said she planted the seed and it grew into a sapling.

“Now there’s (a survivor tree) in Florida,” Ellie said.

Her father said Ellie wanted to give the sapling to the school.

On Thursday, Cracker Trail plans to hold a special Sept. 11 event just for the students at Cracker Trail, said Crystal Baugh, a guidance counselor.

During that event, the plant will be transferred to a larger pot and the children will wear red, white and blue, Baugh said. She also plans to read the story “The Survivor Tree by Cheryl Somers Aubin, which is inspired by the survival of the callery pear tree.

Next year when the tree is larger, Baugh said, she hopes to hold a Sept. 11 event that will be open to the public. Plans are then to find a permanent place for the tree and to erect a sign next to it to make it part of a larger memorial at the school for those who died Sept. 11, 2001, she said.

Brinling said plans are also to request from New York authorities a piece of metal from one of the original twin towers.

That metal would be incorporated into the memorial, he said.

Brinling said he believes having such an event at the school is important because the children were born years after the terrorist attacks.

“Most of the kids don’t know what happened that day,” he said. “We wanted to do something that would bring it home for them.”

Focusing it on the survivor tree is particularly good for children of that elementary school age, he said.

“The story of the tree is such an inspiring story of hope, so hopefully it will translate well with the kids,” he said.

The story that will be read to students Thursday begins, “For more than 20 years, a callery pear tree lived on the World Trade Center Plaza in New York City. On Sept. 11, 2001, the twin towers collapsed near her, covering her in debris. The tree lay under the smoking rubble for a month. Then, one day, some of the workers at the site spotted a few of her green leaves showing through the gray concrete and ash.

“Just like our country, the tree was scared, sad, and in shock. But over time, and with great care, she recovered. This is her story,” the book says.

The 9/11 Memorial web site said the tree was removed from the area and cared for by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Later, the tree was returned.

The story says that when returned, “The tree dug her roots in a bit deeper and stretched her limbs up to the sky. She had survived. The callery pear tree was truly home.”