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New homes now open at
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Tree
Time
Twin Pines, Fox Run’s newest residence building, off ers
stunning new apartment homes that boast modern
fi nishes, natural light, and exquisite woodland views.
Myron Stein
makes sprucing
area roadways
his mission.
We’re Novi’s premier continuing care retirement
community, featuring beautiful maintenance-free
apartment homes, convenient services, and exciting
amenities—all on a gorgeous 108-acre campus.
Barbara Lewis
Contributing Writer
I
f you’ve admired the young trees
on Northwestern Highway in
Farmington Hills or along the
Woodward Avenue boulevard in
Pleasant Ridge, you can thank Myron
Stein.
Stein, 75, of Southfield is on a one-
man mission to beautify southern
Oakland County by buying trees and
donating them to local municipalities.
Stein, a retired art teacher and ama-
teur playwright, started thinking about
trees six years ago after he was laid off.
“I felt the need to do something pro-
ductive,” he said.
The tree-planting idea was a “whim,”
he said.
Soon after driving along
Northwestern Highway and think-
ing about how bare the median strip
looked, Stein went to the Michigan
Department of Transportation office
at Nine Mile and Southfield and told
them he wanted to plant trees.
A woman in the office suggested
he contact the Farmington Hills
Beautification Committee. Stein con-
tacted them and asked if they would
plant trees if he could provide them.
“They weren’t enthusiastic, but they
said yes,” he said.
Then came sticker shock when he
started visiting nurseries and learned
decent-sized trees could cost $100 or
$200 apiece.
A few weeks later, Stein found
himself at Lowe’s, the big-box home
improvement store, and saw trees for
much less. He started dickering with
the manager, getting a lower price for
offering to buy 10, then an even lower
price for offering to buy an entire pal-
let of 36.
“It was July 4 weekend and very
hot,” he recalled. “Maybe Lowe’s
wanted to get rid of them because they
thought they wouldn’t survive.”
The trees were delivered to Stein’s
Due to overwhelming demand for active, worry-free
retirement living in Novi, only a limited number of select
apartment homes remain available. Now is the time to
reserve your perfect apartment home at Twin Pines!
Don’t wait to
learn more!
Call 1-800-917-8169 today to request
your free brochure.
Novi
11626339
EricksonLiving.com
2061840
24 November 10 • 2016
Myron Stein was given a proclamation by
Pleasant Ridge for his beautification efforts.
backyard. “It looked like a forest,” he
said. He watered them faithfully twice
a day.
Stein returned to the Farmington
Hills Beautification Committee, which
said they couldn’t possibly handle 36
trees. They took 13. He gave the rest to
other groups, including one in Lathrup
Village that had started a nature pre-
serve.
Thinking other people might want
to join his cause, Stein formed a non-
profit organization called Tree Time.
(It’s registered in Michigan, but does
not have federal tax-exempt status.)
He started a website, www.treetime.
vpweb.com. Donations made on the
site will be used to buy trees. For
donations made in honor of someone,
Stein will provide a certificate and a
map showing the location of the tree.
Stein looks for sales at Lowe’s, Home
Depot and other local stores.
He estimates he’s given away
more than 250 trees in the past six
years. Pleasant Ridge and Oak Park
have been happy to take them, he
said. Some have gone to Habitat for
Humanity. His own town, Southfield,
told him they didn’t have the man-
power to plant trees.
Stein is proud of a proclamation he
received from the mayor of Pleasant
Ridge in 2012, after he donated seven
red maples and five conifers that were
planted on the Woodward Avenue
median.
Although Northwestern Highway
was his inspiration, Stein says he
recently learned that the designers of
the median strip wanted it to look like
a prairie, rather than a woodland. The
trees he donated are scattered, rather
than clumped, and some have died.
But as long as friends and nature-
lovers continue to donate to Tree
Time, he’ll keep buying trees and find-
ing ways to plant them.
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