AUBURN – A flowering crab apple tree now stands in the courtyard at the rear of Auburn City Hall as a reminder of preventative heart health care. Lewiston Mayor Lionel C. Guay Jr. planted the tree, with the assistance of L-A Forest Board members Lois Wagner and Charlotte Lehmann, as the result of a Twin Cities Mayoral Heart Walk Challenge last Sept. 26.
Auburn had won the challenge with a higher percentage of municipal employees walking, and the Lewiston mayor had committed to planting a tree this spring. Auburn Mayor Normand W. Guay, brother of Lionel Guay, supervised the planting.
Prior to scooping the first shovel of dirt, Lewiston’s mayor noted, “The month of May highlights the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Campaign,’ advocating women’s heart health, and after the planting, my brother and I will place a red ribbon on the tree, which will hopefully serve as an effective visual reminder as to the importance of preventative heart health care for all Central Maine women and their families.”
Katie Rooks, special events director for the American Heart Association, attended the event and praised the Twin Cities’ mayors for bringing attention to heart health care and making a difference in many families.
The tree was planted in memory of the mayors’ mother, Anna B. Guay, who was a victim of heart disease.
Auburn Mayor Guay paid tribute to their mother in French, thanking her for all she did for them, and Mayor Guay of Lewiston added, “I was given the task of planting a tree within the city of Auburn this spring. But, it is certainly not a task, but a distinct honor and privilege, as the tree is being planted in memory of my mother, Anna B. Guay, who passed away in 1988 due to heart disease.”
At the close of the ceremony, the two mayors proclaimed the week of May 16 as National Arbor Week in Lewiston and Auburn, stating in the proclamation that wherever trees are planted, they often serve as a symbol of community renewal and that hopefully the tree’s red ribbon will serve as a symbol of heart health care renewal as well.
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