On October 5th at 5:00pm at Heights High School, Heights Tree People will plant our 1000th tree since we began our work in 2019. We plant trees in the Heights as an act of love—love for trees, for our community, and for the planet.

This location is special to Heights Tree People. Not only because it will be our 1000th tree planted and will serve as a tribute to the community that supports us. This tree will also symbolize a link connecting the history of Cleveland Heights to a future guided by community, love, and sustainability.

Here’s the story: Henry Caine, great-grandfather of Heights Tree People cofounder Laura Marks, was a local leader who worked to extend the Cedar Road trolley line from Coventry Road to Green Road. But on the corner of Cedar and Lee was a majestic elm—six feet in diameter!—that was slated for removal to make room for the trolley. Although the Heights community supported the extension of the trolley line, they—in true Heights fashion—turned out to protest the planned tree removal. As a result, both Cedar Road and the trolley line were rerouted, and the elm tree remained, standing as an emblem of the Heights’ sense of activism and our commitment to preserving our natural environment.

Heights Tree People will be planting our 1000th tree at this corner to honor where we’ve been as well as where we’re going, both as a community and as an organization. We hope you can join us and show your support of community and environmental preservation here in the Heights.