Children's Memorial Tree Needs Help

A little over 22 years ago the small community of South Lake Tahoe was rocked with a tragedy that touched the hearts of most residents.

With a sense of disbelief, schools announced that Rory Hrbacek, Sandy Haynes, and Casey Wells had died in an accident on Pioneer Trail that also affected two other home-town boys, the driver and his front seat passenger.

It was difficult to find a person in our town who did not know either the boys or their parents. It was the greatest single instance of grief this town could remember.

Out of this stunning loss came a bright light of remembrance and hope. Sue and Paul Hrbacek began a campaign to establish a place that would memorialize these young lives. The very tree that had been hit became the symbol for the three teenagers taken that night.

The Children’s Memorial Tree came to rest in a small park area at the corner of Wildwood and Highway 50. It has since grown to include over two hundred and twenty names of children who left this world before their parents.

The current Memorial Tree is deteriorating and needs to be replaced. A committee comprised of Paul Hrbacek, Sue Hrbacek Miller, several parents who have plaques on the tree, and some interested community members made the decision to have the original artist, Dan Jones, craft a tree from man-made materials that will be a remarkable replica of the original tree.

The original tree will become mulch and wood chips around the site. The name plates of the children have been recorded for sequence and will be secured on the new tree in a close approximation of their original placement.

A re-dedication ceremony is planned at the site for August 9, 2013, at 6:00 pm. This project is of great importance to this community, and it is also very expensive. The City of South Lake Tahoe is working with the committee, but the cost is approximately fifteen thousand dollars.

Funds need to be raised to pay for the old tree to be removed and the new tree to be created and placed. The committee is asking that contributions to this effort be sent to G.I.F.T. Inc. (Great Ideas for Tahoe) Program at the City of South Lake Tahoe, 1901 Airport Road, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 96150. Checks should be noted with “Children’s Memorial Tree.”

More information can be viewed at www.childrensmemorialtree.com.