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Newtown Exports A Little Bit Of Fall To Florida

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Newtown Exports A Little Bit Of Fall To Florida

By Jeff White

In about two weeks some Florida students, not accustomed to the splendor of autumnal New England, will have a chance to bury themselves in flamboyant fall foliage. They have only to thank Newtown residents Kate and Ben Striano for the opportunity.

For the past four years, Mrs Striano and her son, Ben, have been literally exporting leaves to her cousin in Florida.

Karen Klebenoff has been teaching at an early childhood center in Margate, Florida for the past 10 years. About 7 years ago her director proposed to dedicate one day in November as a celebration of fall; Florida, Mrs Klebenoff says, is not blessed with as spectacular a season as New England.

Next to the fresh fruit and vegetable market and the football games on the schools’ lawns, Mrs Klebenoff thought that her students needed to be able to actually play in leaves, “just like the kids up north do.”

“The pre-school students have no experience of autumn, no concept of leaves turning colors and falling from trees,” says Mrs Striano. “As a native New Yorker transplanted to Florida, Karen though it would be fun to send autumn to Florida.”

Mrs Klebenoff had only to place a call to her cousin in Newtown; the Strianos have sent up to 30 boxes of the dry, colorful compost each of the last four years.

Kate Striano would carry a rake in the back of her car, on the chance that she might pass a promising field or yard carpeted with leaves. If she saw some unusual colors, she would simply pullover and rake them into a bag.

She and Ben would attempt, as best they could, to separate different leaves into different bags, but only, she admits, when she was totally stress-free. “I would always try to give them a good variety of leaves, however” she confides.

“I figured she was [family], they never see leaves, so give them a hand,” explains the 12-year-old Ben of his willingness to help out.

The matter of collecting and boxing the leaves is a tricky one, and both Ben and his mother can be thankful that they have each other to help with the task. While one collects a clump of leaves, the other steadies the box and holds the garbage bag; if they both do the raking, they find they collect more leaves. For little more than $5 they can ship a box priority mail to the playgrounds of Margate.

Unfortunately, as the sun sneaks away each day a little earlier on its way to the winter solstice, the Strianos have not had the time to collect as many boxes this year as they have in the past. For the first time, they have hired a leaf blower to collect the foliage for them. They hope other Newtown residents can help them export autumn.  

Over the past years, Mrs Striano says, “We have filled [the students’] playground with leaves and allowed them to frolic in a way we New Englanders take for granted.”

“For the last four years Kate and her son Ben have been doing a great job,” says Karen Klebenoff. “[They have] helped me give the children here in south Florida the chance of a lifetime to have a real fall in Florida.”

The Striano family needs help with this project to get as many boxes of leaves as possible to preschoolers of Margate by November 17, in time for the fall celebrations. Individuals and families are encouraged to lend a hand, sending boxes via Priority Mail to: Beth AM Early Childhood Center/7205 Royal Palm Blvd/Margate, FL 33063/Attention: Karen Klebenoff.

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