A small cherry tree now stands in Kennedy-Dells County Park with a plaque in honor of a retired chemist who has worked to protect Rockland's water and keep his village free of litter.

Pomona resident Constantine Gletsos received this year's County Executive's Outstanding Environmental Volunteer Award. His tree joins the Red Bud trees of seven previous recipients: Charles Schwep, Betty Hedges, Zipporah Fleisher, Colleen and Harold Leidy, George Zoebelein and Geoffrey Welch.

"Dr. Gletsos is a great example of how our residents can make a difference in our community on the grass-roots level," said County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, praising Gletsos at the Earth Day ceremony.

Gletsos founded the Pomona Clean-Up Squad (POCUS) in 1997, which is responsible for cleaning up litter in the village.

His volunteers also worked with the Haverstraw Town Park and Highway departments to clean up Cheesecote Mountain Park in 2002 and he organized the first "Stream Team Drain Project" in Rockland. This group of volunteers marked storm drains with warnings about illegal dumping and the importance of protecting the county's water.

Gletsos is a retired medicinal chemist who discovered a drug in the early 1990s that helped prevent organ rejection in transplant patients.

At the tree dedication ceremony, Vanderhoef told a story of a boy who was walking along a beach trying to save all the starfish that had been washed ashore. He made the analogy between environmental issues and the few starfish that could actually be saved.

"Every little thing we do helps things get better," said Vanderhoef in regards to picking up litter, controlling pesticides and other environmental issues.

Gletsos then stepped forward to receive the award, but said thanks should really be given to the volunteers for all their work. He then quoted writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson: "There is no way everyone in this world can give something without getting back."

He added a Greek phrase and explained his philosophy: "Do something with heart, everything else is just a business transaction."