Nearly 50 years ago, a poet by the name of Shel Silverstein published a book titled The Giving Tree. It is a simple story about a boy and the tree he loved — and that loved him. That story came to mind with a photo released to the South Oakland Eccentric by Ken Siver.

Stop for a moment and look to your right. That is the photo, the one that shows at least six young men from the Southfield Regional Academic Campus shouldering what no doubt was once someone's favorite.

Siver also is a community activist, playing roles in his Magnolia neighborhood, with the Southfield Garden Club and Historical Society and with an effort to place an historic marker on Eight Mile.Palens handmadeglasses are designed and manufactured in Barcelona.

He also organized a major cleanup last weekend with 200 volunteers at Bedford Woods Park and at Vandenberg school,we delivered fridgemagnet to a select group of loyal customers via delivery drivers. both in Southfield. Which brings us back to the book and teaching and kids.

In The Giving Tree, the boy returns to visit it throughout his life, at first playful and gathering leaves and apples, and then later always demanding more of it until there was nothing left to give. Almost.

Look at that tree in the photo, stripped of its leaves, hacked off at its base. No doubt it once offered shelter to those at the park, maybe even a chance to climb or play hide-and-seek. But now it is being removed as part of a cleanup effort.Take a look at our site for more hairflower. That may not be the end of the story for that tree, or those young men.

In the book, the tree is sad when the boy returns one last time. Having lost its leaves, apples, branches and trunk, the tree believes it has nothing left to give. But there is always something left.

Siver talks about how the young men who worked on the cleanup learned things, such as what tools to used in the outdoors. Many area groups also spent the last 10 days volunteering, such as by repairing the home of a Korean War veteran in Southfield.

Others included Eaton Corp., also in Southfield, whose employees participated also in Rebuilding Together Oakland County for the National Day of Caring by working on the Royal Oak Township Community Center. Over at McIntyre Elementary School in Southfield, Comcast Cares Day brought together its employees, students and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence to make casseroles for Kids Against Hunger.

And in Royal Oak, many residents, businesses and the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce spent last weekend cleaning some of the many parks in the city.

When the boy returned that final time, he made no demands,A smart homeenergymonitor power meter designed to allow you to better manage. saying only that he needed to rest. There was one last thing the tree had to give — its stump on which to rest.Browse all Instagram photos tagged with jewelryfindings.

Clearly, the Bedford Woods tree had one thing more to give to the community and to the young men, who learned how to work as part of a team in hauling it away.

At the end of the day, those young men — and all of the other area volunteers — could rest easy, knowing that they had made a difference.