Cherry Hill Continues Tradition Of Cherry Tree Plantings
By John McDevitt
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- It's a 41-year-old spring-time tradition -- planting cherry trees in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
1,472 cherry trees line a two-mile stretch along Chapel Avenue between Haddonfield Road and Kings Highway. That includes five new ones planted Saturday morning. Cherry Hill resident Joe Zanghi has been involved in the planting effort since the very beginning.
"We came up with the idea of cherry trees because of an old tradition that there was a farm-house at the Cherry Hill Mall and people came from miles to see the cherry trees in blossom," Zanghi said, "so we picked up on that theme and converted it to Chapel Avenue."
In recent years, patriotism has been tied in. There are yellow ribbons tied around many of the trees to show support for our troops and American flags to remember the victims of 9-11.
"Bring your child there," said Zanghi, "and let them lay a flower at the base of a tree or a little flag and give them a lesson of our country and what this avenue represents and instill patriotism in them at an early age.
The trees are expected to blossom within the next ten days.
