Ocean Grove Record

Ocean Grove Folks

Ocean Grove Tree Surgeon Makes
House Call On Broadway

By Paul Goldfinger

Mauro Bacolo lives on Asbury Avenue with his wife Vicky. They have owned their home here since 1995, but they became year-rounders two years ago.

Their rambling Victorian house is surrounded by a large variety of interesting plant species; the closest thing to a botanical garden that can be found in town. But it’s no surprise that Mauro enjoys gardening. He is a graduate of the New York Botanical Gardens School of Professional Horticulture.

He is a certified horticulturist (his primary profession) and arborist whose regular job is that of supervisor of parks maintenance in Staten Island. He has worked for the New York City Department of Parks for many years as an arborist, including 23 years in Brooklyn where he worked in the forestry/horticulture division doing horticulture and tree care.

He usually leaves his tree work behind when he returns to Ocean Grove to relax, but today we found him climbing an overgrown red mulberry at the corner of Broadway and Central, near the tennis courts. It seems that the film crews currently involved in movie making here are parking their trucks on the south of town near the beach and they were having trouble passing that tree as they pulled in and out of the parking lot. In addition, the tree was interfering with pedestrian traffic.

The Camp Meeting Association asked Mauro to help, so he came over to perform some needed surgery. Using a variety of orthopedic type tools, including a saw on a long pole, a chain saw and hand saws, Mauro set about pruning the tree in a way that would protect it from damage.

After he surrounded himself with expendable low hanging branches, he expertly tied himself with a rope and proceeded to climb inside his patient. The ropes act like an elevator, so that he can slide safely up and down. When he was done, the air and light moved easily through the tree.

Mauro is a wiry, muscular sixty year old Navy veteran who is accustomed to physical work. In addition to his regular job, he is a Staff Sergeant First Class with the Homeland Security’s New York State Militia.

He hopes to be chosen as an extra when filming begins in town on that new movie. How appropriate that we discovered him appearing in his first Broadway role.