As a relative newcomer to Greensboro, I have always been inspired and grateful for the city's dedication to its parks system and, more importantly, the care of its trees. Sorrow and anger are the feelings I possessed as I recently drove into Friendly Shopping Center only to see that a third of the beautiful oak allee that once graced the old Harris Teeter had been cut to the ground.

Having grown up on an oak-covered street as a boy, these majestic trees reminded me of home and the security I felt from Club Boulevard in Durham. My hope is this desecration was brought about by some type of disease in the oaks and not by the general greed of needing a few more parking spaces in an already full concrete jungle.

I imagine this was done under the guise of economic progress. I only wish more thought had been given to the grand oaks before they were sent to the wood chipper.

Harold Ashworth
Greensboro