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By this time, Mrs. Anna Rosenberg, who is now Mrs. Hoffman, was greatly moved about flowers and the planting of them in New York City, and we decided to form a committee called the Salute to Seasons, and we'd have a committee of New Yorkers to be associated with the Department of Commerce of New York City and with Mr. Richard Patterson as the head of the Department of Commerce, and they would promote the idea of festivals in the fall and spring. We had one on the steps of the Library, I think in the fall of '57, the first time, which consisted of singers and dancers and the Sanitation Band, sort of large small-town jollifications to which about 5,000 people came, and the streets between 40th Street and 52nd Street were cut off for two hours. And everybody sat there and enjoyed himself free, while the need for planting trees and lighting and having fountains in New York City was put forward by the Mayor and other City officials.

Now, this has gone on every year since 1957.

Was this the reason then for the big urns on Fifth Avenue?

Yes, originally, we formed committees and we asked people for contributions. At first we had big boxes with flags in them and flowers planted at their bases. Then, the Equitable Life Insurance Company was having a hundredth anniversary or something and they actually offered to give us concrete tubs planted in honor of their anniversary. These were put on Fifth Avenue from 34th Street to 59th Street, and they are there as of today.