County rallies behind Verzani’s family

The mother of an 8-year-old Arnold girl killed by a falling tree more than two weeks ago wants to be out of the woods.

Lindsey Jacoby, whose daughter Haley Verzani died March 18 amidst a winter storm, said she is looking to relocate, nearby but below the tree line after a fir tree, more than 100 feet tall, crashed through her rental home on Moran Road.

Jacoby has been staying with her grandmother, Betty Llewelyn, in Arnold since that tragic morning. She and her daughter relocated from the Bay Area city of Oakley more than two years ago to be nearer to family.

Haley Verzani was a third-grader at Hazel Fischer Elementary School in White Pines.

Jacoby said she never expected the towering pines that cover most of eastern Calaveras County could one day turn deadly.

“I never thought a tree could fall on your home like that,” she said. “I don’t want to move away from grandma … but I don’t want to be around trees.”

“I can understand,” Llewelyn said.

Both women said they have been overwhelmed by the generous outpouring of the community, with churches pitching in support, hotels putting up guests who came for Verzani’s funeral and more than 90 nearby residents organizing food donations via CaringMeals.com.

“They’ve been bringing stuff here every day,” Llewelyn said.

“They have been here for me in every way,” Jacoby said.

“Once again our community has shown how willing it is to rally in support of those among us who have suffered loss,” said Jonna Maynard, who is helping organize a fundraising event for the family later this month. “The generosity of our people is one of the reasons this is such a special place to live.”

Jacoby said her former landlords have told her they will tear down the remainder of her former home and do not plan to re-build.