SEA ISLE CITY TO DEDICATE A PINK REMEMBRANCE TREE FOR CASEY SATURDAY, MAY 1

Press Release Issued by the South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance:

The City of Sea Isle, along with the South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance, will dedicate a Pink Remembrance Tree for Casey Feldman as part of Sea Isle City’s Community Day, Saturday, May 1 at Noon in front of the police department on JFK Boulevard. 

Mayor Len Desiderio said “Mr. and. Mrs. Feldman have worked very hard to raise awareness to pedestrian safety and it is my privilege to honor the memory of their daughter in the hopes of keeping the residents and visitors of Sea Isle safe.”

Casey Feldman was struck and killed by a motorist while crossing a street in a crosswalk in Ocean City on July 17, 2009 while on her way to a waitressing job on the boardwalk.  Casey was a senior at Fordham University majoring in communication and media studies and was living in Sea Isle City for the summer where the Feldman family has had a home for the past 17 years.  For the holidays, the family decorated a 300 year old sycamore tree on their Springfield, Pennsylvania property with 18,000 pink lights as a tribute to Casey.  The tree has gotten much attention and provided the family with such comfort, that they have decided to also promote it as a traffic safety tree.

Dianne Anderson, Casey’s mother, said, “Pink was Casey’s favorite color and the lights represent her sparkling personality.  While I originally just envisioned it for the holidays, it has remained lit and I now can’t imagine coming home and not seeing it.”  Anderson went on to say, “Casey loved Sea Isle City; it was one of her favorite places. She even wrote about it in many high school essays. That is why it means so much to me that Sea Isle is going to dedicate a tree in her memory.”

While in memory of Casey Feldman, “The Pink Remembrance Tree” in Sea Isle City is also being dedicated to all of those who have lost their lives in motor vehicle collisions.  The Feldman’s are creating a website with the same name and hope to start a movement of Pink Remembrance Trees nationwide.  As part of the website, the public can upload photographs of their tree and their loved one, as well as include any information about their loved one that they may wish to share.

The Pink Remembrance Tree dedicated to Casey on the Feldman Property

Joel Feldman said “Our hope is that people will see the trees and slow down, or get off the phone or buckle up. There are just too many people dying on our roadways and it is not acceptable because they are preventable.”

Joel Feldman met with legislators and highway traffic officials over the past year in an attempt to promote changes in New Jersey’s pedestrian safety law.The new law, which went into effective April 1, 2010, now requires motorists to STOP and remain stopped for pedestrians, as opposed to simply yielding to them. The South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance will use Casey as part of their summer safety campaign called THINK SAFETY.  Businesses, schools, municipalities and police departments are asked to participate by displaying the posters and banners throughout their community.  Forms are available at sjtsa.org.

To view photos or television news clips of the Feldmans pink tree, read Casey’s writings about Sea Isle City, or for more information about Casey or the foundation which has been established in her memory, visit caseyfeldman.com.

The pinkremembrancetree.com website will be up and running by May 1.

Note: Read the articles in The Press of Atlantic City and Cape May County Herald.