HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WDTN) — The community recently came together to bring new life to a park devastated by the 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes.
On Sunday, Nov. 5, 10 cherry trees were planted at Sinclair Park, an area that suffered the loss of trees and vegetation after the 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes.
The effort was led by Alex Hara, a Japanese-born businessman. He heads the Operation 2,000 Cherry Tree Project which raises funds to plant trees around the Dayton area.
“The 2019 tornadoes just really took all the trees down in this park, so we want to revitalize this park, but also this is the typical older community where the population is aging and they are not able to bring a new young people into this community,” said Hara.
“I’m hoping that these cherry trees will add the quality of life to this community and that in turn brings more young people into this community to revitalize the community. So that’s our mission and hope.”
The project originally began in response to a devastating earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. More than 15,000 people were killed and thousands were missing after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake brought forth a tsunami.
So far, 1,450 trees have been planted in the Dayton area through the project.
Ten trees were planted on Sunday. Another 120 are expected to be added to the park in the future.
