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Raising North Side hopes, a tree at a time

May 23, 2012 at 3:06AM
(McKenna Ewen/McKenna Ewen)

The one-year anniversary of the tornado that devastated north Minneapolis a year ago began Tuesday morning with the planting of a Black Hills spruce in the yard of Jan Carstens, whose husband, Rob MacIntyre, was one of two people to die as a result of the storm. MacIntyre died while trying to help a neighbor clean up after the storm. The other victim, Floyd David Whitfield, died when a branch crashed through the window of his van. Mayor R.T. Rybak said during Tuesday's gathering that the tree planting was "one more step toward the rebuilding of north Minneapolis," where the city will plant several thousand trees this year to fill the now-empty spaces where trees were destroyed. In a few years when people return to mark the anniversary of the tornado, they will "come here not just to see and think about the devastation but also to see flowering trees that remind us that even in the toughest of times, hope does bloom," Rybak said.

Tree Trust arborist Karen Zumach, center, put her arm around Jan Carstens as a Black Hills spruce was planted in Carstens' yard Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of a tornado that devastated north Minneapolis and resulted in the deaths of two men. One of them was Rob MacIntyre, Carstens' husband and a Tree Trust supporter.
Tree Trust arborist Karen Zumach, center, put her arm around Jan Carstens as a Black Hills spruce was planted in Carstens’ yard Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of a tornado that devastated north Minneapolis and resulted in the deaths of two men. One of them was Rob MacIntyre, Carstens’ husband and a Tree Trust supporter. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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