Racetrack earns trees for town

Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter said NASCAR is giving the town a tree for every one of the 100 green flags that waved in the stands at Riverhead Raceway last Saturday.

That's a $10,000 gift.

"I like maple trees the best. They're beautiful," Walter said.

Racetrack owners Barbara and Jim Cromarty donated the trees to the town after their track was selected by NASCAR for its "green clean air" program.

The town will get a variety of trees, according to the particular areas where they will be planted, and the work will be done by the town parks department, highway department and buildings and grounds staff.

Riverhead is one of five communities across the country selected by NASCAR for the donation, all of them with racetracks that run its Whelen All-American race series.

Walter recalled how, 20 years ago, he would go to local tracks to watch auto races, and how those racetracks in Islip and Bridgehampton and Westhampton closed, one by one. "Now, we're the only one left," he said.

Walter said some of the trees would likely be placed at the new town ballfields at the Enterprise Park at Calverton, and others given to the highway department would be used as part of new drainage projects being done across the town. "When we take delivery of the trees, we'll get the staff together. I'm more inclined to use them in our parks," he said.

The tress will likely be delivered and planted in the fall to avoid summer heat, Walter said.

The trees will be supplied to the town by Verderber Landscape Nursery and Garden Center in Aquebogue.