Elm Tree Planted In Joe Pintauro's Memory To Be Dedicated

On the same weekend that the archive of the playwright, poet, and novelist Joe Pintauro will be formally dedicated to the John Jermain Memorial Library, the Sag Harbor Tree Fund has a celebration of its own planned.

At 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 13, it will dedicate an American elm tree planted in Mr. Pintauro’s memory in Marine Park.

“Like Joe, it is stalwart and will stand up to the wind and weather they have down there,” said Alison Bond of the Tree Fund.

Mr. Pintauro, who is best known locally for his adaptation of Peter Matthiessen’s book, “Men’s Lives,” into the play that served as the inaugural production of Bay Street Theater, lived for many years on John Street and was a highly regarded figure in the East End arts scene

Mr. Pintauro’s tree is on the south side of the park not far from a red maple planted in the memory of U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, who died in 2008 in Iraq.

Ms. Bond said the tree was planted in 2019, about a year after Mr. Pintauro’s death, and the plaque, which simply reads, “From the Friends of Joe Pintauro,” was recently installed.

“We normally don’t put the plaque in for eight or nine months after the tree is planted because we want to make sure it takes,” said Ms. Bond, who noted that because of the pandemic, no plaques were installed last year. The tree did not appear to mind the wait. It is now about 15 feet tall with a caliper of about 2 ½ inches. “It’s doing very well,” Ms. Bond said

Ms. Bond said the Tree Fund decided to wait to dedicate the tree until Mr. Pintauro’s husband, Greg Therriault, would be in town for public events at the library related to the archive dedication.

Besides Mr. Therriault, other friends who dedicated the tree in his memory will be on hand. Ms. Bond said she would invite other village officials as well.

She hopes the occasion will encourage others to underwrite a tree in a family member’s or loved one’s name.

It costs $700 to plant a tree and maintain it for the first three years before the village takes over that responsibility. Bronze plaques are an additional $300. Applications can be picked up in the village office on Main Street.