Brunswick ain’t Lahaina

I recently moved away from the Brunswick area after 40 happy years. The day before I started my drive west, I saw the tree carnage on Main Street.

It continues. And I am struck by the contrast to Lahaina, Hawaii. The great tree there — which I saw in 2022 — was incredibly nurtured after fire destroyed the town. A corps of dedicated arborists and botanists kept it alive with passionate daily care and it is now leafing out again. It survived.

Contrast this to the casual (yes, even with detailed explanation) removal of the Brunswick Maine Street trees. No concern for the ADA or spiffy new sidewalks offsets the loss of these trees. Brunswick Maine Street lost its stately trees in an earlier era to an arboreal disease. When will we learn?

Many people must share my appreciation for shade and greenery on Maine Street especially at the height of summer. I suspect a survey of tourists would show this. It was a great pleasure and relief to sit under the Maine Street trees on sunny days. Temperatures on the new sidewalks are bound to be higher than in the past.

It seems especially sad that a Maine city shows such disregard for the environment.

Peggy Muir,
Bainbridge Island, Washington, previously of Brunswick