Former Classmates Remember Harlie Treanor

A tree-planting ceremony was recently held in East Meadow in honor of Harlie Treanor, who died when the boat she was on capsized in Oyster Bay on July 4. 

Community members, faculty, students and Treanor's classmates gathered at the ceremony, which was hosted by the East Meadow Kiwanis Club, at Bowling Green Elementary School on Sept. 20.  She was a former Bowling Green K-Kid, a child Kiwanis member.

Following comments by family, teachers and Kiwanians, fellow K-Kids and classmates added soil to the base of a pink weeping cherry tree planted east of the walkway to the school in honor of the Huntington Station resident.

Devon Rafanelli, former K-Kids president, donated a copy of “Faithful Elephants” by Yukio Tsuchiya to the school in Treanor's name. Treanor read the book about three elephants in a Japanese zoo during World War II in her fifth grade class.

“No one can read this story without taking a giant step closer to feeling the compassion that Harlie felt for the world’s wildlife," Rafanelli said. "We hope that making this book available to all the students of Bowling Green will spark some of Harlie’s compassion for wildlife in other students.”

At the end of the ceremony, a gong was rung 11 times as the audience reflected on their memories of Treanor.

She was one of three children who died when the boat overturned after a Fourth of July fireworks show.