Woman pleads to save family tree

A Bakersfield resident, Stephanie Lintel, did her best Friday to preserve her grandfather’s legacy from World War II, that legacy being a tree growing along Truxtun Avenue. However, current construction projects were something she had to consider. The tree in Lintel’s front yard has been in her family for three generations ever since her grandfather planted it for her grandmother after serving in the Air Force during World War II. Most people have driven by this tree, while heading on Truxtun Avenue, but for Lintel it’s not just a tree in someone’s front yard. “It’s something that is near and dear to my heart, it’s something so minor but it’s something major to me,” Lintel said. Lintel has grown up in Bakersfield her whole life and has seen this tree every day, but changes in her environment are also happening too. The widening project currently underway on Truxtun Avenue will run across part of her front lawn. “As soon as I heard about this construction it broke my heart because I had a feeling it was going to take down the tree, ”Lintel said. The Granite Construction company doing the work along Truxtun has already laid a sand bag line in Lintel’s front yard and her tree tows that line. 23ABC spoke to Dan Monji of Monji Landscape who said a typical project like Lintel’s could cost several thousands of dollars. Lintel is just hoping to protect her family heirloom and keep it's roots in the Bakersfield community. “I hope that we can keep it here and it could be kind of like a memory for the veterans that are here in town,” Lintel said. Bakersfield City Public Outreach officials told 23ABC today that they are going to help Lintel relocate her tree.