Saugerties honors longtime town official and animal advocate with tree planting

Marie Post’s relatives and descendants gathered for the planting of a tree in her memory, joined by town supervisor Fred Costello, at right, and son, Howard Post, third from right. (Photos by David Gordon)

A flowering dogwood tree, planted at the Saugerties town hall in memory of Marie Post, was part of the Saugerties observance of Arbor Day on Friday, April 27. The tree was one of three planted by the Saugerties Tree Commission on Friday, said Rosemarie Brackett of the commission.

Arbor Day, celebrated on the last Friday in April, was first adopted in Nebraska in 1874. The commission has planted trees in the Village of Saugerties since 2013, Brackett said. Among the commission’s activities has been tree plantings at the town’s schools.

This year, the commission decided to pay tribute to Post, a former town board member who established and closely oversaw the town’s animal shelter until her death in February 2015. Post also served as manager of the town’s transfer station.

Brackett thanked the town and the village as well as Story’s Nursery of Freehold, which supplied the tree.A plaque next to the tree reads: “In memory of Marie Post, whose love and compassion for animals has brought joy to many lives.”

Two-year-old Jack Zinverman, Marie Post’s great-grandson, watered the tree after it was planted.

“On behalf of my family, and on behalf of my mother, I want to thank the tree commission for this remembrance, said Marie Post’s son, town planning board chair Howard Post. When Post said that people 100 years from now might wonder who Marie Post was, several people in the group assured him that “They’ll know.”