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Babylon Town to tip toe through the tulips The Town of Babylon is getting back to its roots. Once known for its lush display of tulips every spring, the Town kicked off a massive effort last week to plant 1 million tulip and daffodil bulbs this year. "This is the start of a plan that will bring back some of Babylon's history," said Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone as he stood in front of the steps of Town Hall handing out the bulbs to civic leaders and local vounteers. For many years, Van Bourgondien & Sons, a company that distributes bulbs worldwide, operated in West Babylon. Many members of the family lived locally but they closed their operation in Babylon about three years ago. During the 1950s, Babylon hosted the annual TulipParade and the West Babylon Beautification Society was involved in promoting the area as the tulip capital. Several members of that group attended the event announcing the opening of the program. They said they were looking forward to reviving the tradition of having tulips in Babylon. "This is a great project and we will be beautifying many areas making Babylon a beautiful place to live or to visit," said Ruth Hill, of the society. Joe Turner Jr., a landscaper and volunteer, has worked to maintain a small stretch of public land at Albany Avenue and Great Neck Road in North Amityville. Carting away a box of bulbs, he said he will plant them and looks forward to watching them bloom in the spring. Edna Newton of the Wyandanch Coalition, and LaMont Wilson of the South East Concerns Citizens in Wyandanch, have worked on beautification projects within their community with the Town's liaison Florence Findley, and praised Bellone for maintaining a focus not only on the big things that make a difference but also on the small ones as well. "These flowers will beautify our community and that is always important," said Newton. The Town project will enlist the help of many people over the coming year to plant the bulbs, including those who adopt spots and highways throughout the Town. "Doreen Collins and Helen Gering of Doreen's Flowers have a small piece of land on Conklin Avenue that they have cleared and nurtured the site since 1999, cleaning it up, grading it and putting in plantings. They carried away a box of bulbs that they are planting there in the hope of seeing a burst of color come spring. "It is a way to give back to the community and it is important to make small places look nice," said Collins. "Flowers calm people, and I am big believer in calming people down," said Bellone, copying a line from Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Bulbs of another kind will be distributed by the Town with the assistance of its carters BSSI. In May, the Town accepted donations from Wal-Mart and Breslin Realty to purchase 5,500 CFLbulbs for townwide distribution. The bulbs are estimated to result in a saving of $2.5 million in energy costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 22,594 tons over five years. The effort was designed to get more people to use these bulbs in every lamp and lighting fixture in their homes for even greater savings of money and energy.
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