Lifelong Westbrook resident Peter Plowman said he and his wife, Jeanne, donated Westbrook its new Christmas tree because they wanted to honor his mother. On Sunday evening, they got to see it light up at Riverbank Park.
First came carols played and sung by Westbrook High School band members and carolers during a visit by Santa Claus. Then Plowman and his extended family stood around the tree, along with a couple hundred Westbrook residents, while Plowman’s grandson and his wife’s niece, Ian King and Sydney Ranalletti, respectively, turned on the tree’s lights.
“We just thought it would be neat to move the tree down here in my mother’s memory,” said Plowman. The tree was planted 15 years ago and decorated over the years with help from Plowman’s mother, Maxine Locke, a lifelong Westbrook resident who passed away in February.
Jeanne Plowman said her mother-in-law was not a person who liked to attract attention to herself but rather preferred to lavish it on others. “She would be overwhelmed that this tree was dedicated to her,” she said.
Shelly Plowman, wife of Peter Plowman’s brother Mark, said the tree was special to the family because it brought them together during a difficult year with the passing of Locke.
“We’re thrilled to have been chosen,” said Peter Plowman.
The tree needed replacement because high winds during a storm one night in the spring blew off the top branches. John Emerson, deputy director of Westbrook Public Services, said the wind took off enough so many branches it would have been impossible to use as a Christmas tree again this year.
The city asked residents to donate trees that could possibly be used as a replacement, said Emerson. Out of about thirty trees offered, the city picked the Plowmans’ as the best. The city had the tree transplanted to Riverbank Park about a month ago, said Emerson.
Members of the Plowman family pose before Westbrook’s new Christmas tree in Riverbank Park. The tree was dedicated by Peter and Jeanne Plowman in memory of Peter’s mother, Maxine Locke, who passed away in February.Send questions/comments to the editors.
