Market Street gets trim, just a little off the top

By Mitch Fryer
Staff Writer

KITTANNING — A detail of townspeople picked up their pruning shears, sharpened their saws and climbed their ladders in an effort to shape up the shade trees along Market Street yesterday.

By the time the aristocrat pear tree branches had hit the sidewalks,shoppers could see the store signs again, were no longer banging their heads on the low hangingbranches and could admire a beautiful tree-lined view of the downtown business area.

"The trees had gone too long without being pruned," said Ed Cassesse, Kittanning Borough Police chief. "It was a matter of safety and to make the town look better."

Cassesse and dentist Dr. Ray Voller, president of the DKI (Downtown Kittanning Inc.), headed the tree trimming project which had help from members of the business community and borough groups.

The tree cleanup came just in time for the annual Fort Armstrong Folk Festival scheduled for the end of the month.

"The chief and I talked about getting DKI and the borough to work together to help trim the trees," said Voller. "They haven't been trimmed for several years."

They agreed they didn't mind the work and saving DKI and the borough some money appealed to them.

"This was the first time ever we worked together on a project to save the borough money," said Voller.

In addition to Voller and Cassesse, other crew members included Armstrong County Coroner Bob Bower, Mike Swartz of Alltel, Kittanning Hose Co. 4 chief Earl "Buzz" Kline, DKI member Bill Jordan of Jordan's Paint and Glass and his daughter Megan, Fort Armstrong Folk Festival board member Mike Nanney and Painted Daisy business owner Andy McCanna.

Lisa McCanna, Andy's wife, a garden club member, landscape designer and art teacher, was the trimmers' advisor.

"Upright oval is the natural shape," McCanna told them as they snipped a little off one tree and some more off another before hauling the branches out of town.

McCanna said the downtown trees got started in 1990 as memorial trees. Business owners planted some of the trees while citizens, Grace Presbyterian Church and Pride in Kittanning (PIK) put in many of the others. Klingensmiths donated five cherry trees by the playground, she said.

"It's nice to have a group of people working together," said Lisa McCanna

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