When a 35,000-pound hurricane-uprooted oak is resting on your family’s roof, experience is not a marketing buzzword—it is the difference between a surgical extraction and a collapsed home. Since January 1980 (over 46 years), Mark Wm. Skowron has owned and personally commanded Morning Star Tree Company Inc. from Long Island, New York to Tampa Bay and the Florida Panhandle.
From his Long Island roots in Yaphank and Centereach, NY and Suffolk County Community College, to over 33 years as a Firefighter with Centereach Fire Department Headquarters & Engine Co. 3 (since September 1993), Mark brings first-responder integrity, his family’s heart—wife Eileen and son Kyle Skowron—and his legendary job-site dogs Capri and Willow to every community he serves.
Every element of the Morning Star Tree Company Inc. heraldic emblem honors Mark Wm. Skowron’s dual life’s work as a master arborist since January 1980 and a veteran volunteer firefighter since September 1993:
The crimson-and-gold Firefighter Maltese Cross honors Mark’s service with Centereach FD HQ & Engine Co. 3 since September 1993.
The deep-rooted Southern Live Oak honors 46+ years of continuous ownership (since Jan 1980) and our permanent Tampa Bay, FL Home Base.
The crowning compass rose guides our mobile catastrophe crane fleet (1-888-Tree Doc) into active storm zones nationwide.
Raised in Yaphank, New York and educated at Suffolk County Community College, Mark founded Morning Star Tree Company Inc. in January 1980 in Centereach, NY. On September 11, 1993 and September 17, 1993, Mark joined Centereach FD Headquarters and Centereach Fire Department Engine Co. 3—bringing 33+ years of firematic rope-rescue physics and incident command to every tree emergency.
Mark and his wife Eileen moved south and established Morning Star Tree Company Inc.’s permanent Home Base in Tampa, FL. Serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties year-round, Mark brought four decades of technical Northeastern hardwood rigging mastery to Florida’s sprawling Grand Live Oaks, Laurel Oaks, and towering Slash Pines.
Because catastrophic hurricanes overwhelm local crews overnight, Mark travels the country with his crane truck (1-888-Tree Doc), Altec aerial lift, and Bobcat loaders wherever severe storms strike. Currently staged in the Pensacola & Milton, FL corridor, Mark personally oversees every emergency roof extraction.
Behind every emergency storm deployment and 14-hour crane day is a tight-knit family that treats every homeowner like a lifelong neighbor. Click any portrait to view full screen.
Mark and Eileen enjoying the Florida sunshine at their Southern home base after decades on Long Island.
Mark’s son Kyle Skowron proudly wearing his Morning Star Tree Co. cap in front of the Tree of Life.
Whether coordinating home base or traveling the coast, Eileen is the steady anchor behind Morning Star Tree Company.
Road-tripping between New York and Florida with Capri riding shotgun in her plush travel bed.
Anyone who knows Mark knows Capri is truly one of a kind. With her signature adorable underbite and fearless job-site poise, Capri inspects every freshly cut stump sitting upright on her hind legs with her paws together—and even wears Mark’s 631-484-7700 phone number on her pink heart collar tag! Click any photo below to open the full-resolution gallery.
Wearing her knit sweater on a massive freshly felled multi-leader oak stump, Capri sits straight up on her hind legs with her front paws together—her trademark celebration after a safe takedown.
Zoom in on Capri’s pink heart collar tag next to Mark’s Stihl chainsaw: it reads 631-484-7700—the exact same direct owner dispatch line homeowners call for tree service today.
Capri keeping watch from the hood of Mark’s heavy-duty Ford F-350 dually pickup sporting his iconic New York vanity license plate: MARKTREE.
Perched proudly on a freshly bucked stump right beside the bar-and-chain oil jug while the crew and crane outriggers wrap up another clean removal behind her.
Capri standing atop a freshly sectioned hardwood trunk inspecting the stainless-steel friction rigging device and bull rope used for zero-drop-zone lowering.
Dressed in her green fleece sweater, Capri sits paws-up on stacked oak rounds while a high-climber works 60 feet up in the canopy behind her.
Willow (Mark’s beloved Border Collie) and Capri sitting side-by-side on the front chrome bumper of Fire Engine E-9, honoring Mark’s 33+ years of fire service.
Sweet Willow peeking happily out of a chest-deep pile of freshly raked golden autumn oak leaves after a fall cleanup.
After a full day inspecting stumps, cranes, and fire engines, best friends Willow and Capri curl up side-by-side at home with Mark and Eileen.