Chris Canida, Cody Erhart and Jim O'Neil formed a weekday superstar crew this week to make up for Saturday's canceled planting. (FOT file)

By Andy Meeks

Last Saturday, for the first time in over three years, Friends of Trees postponed a planting.

While the dangerous road conditions never fully materialized, all the purchased trees designated for holes in Portland, Beaverton and Tigard were never planted.

Almost immediately, the work began at the Friends of Trees office to get things back on track.  The Beaverton planting was rescheduled for this Saturday (11920 SW Clifford Street, Beaverton – 9:00am) and the Durham City Park planting was rescheduled for January 23rd.

However, the Brentwood-Darlington, Mt. Scott Arleta and Woodstock planting consisted of almost 200 street and yard trees that were already pulled from the very frozen soil in the nurseries and assembled on the Friends of Trees lot covered in insulating layers of hay. These trees couldn’t wait long before needing a new dirt home.

And this is where our superstar volunteer crew leaders and drivers enter the story. On short notice and in less-than-ideal conditions, seven crews planted over 70 trees on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and another four crews will head out tomorrow morning to help (almost) finish the work that would have otherwise been done in four hours last weekend.

We wanted to publicly thank all of the brave, hearty, and big-hearted volunteers who gave their time and energy this week to help get the Neighborhood Trees planting schedule back on track.  Thank you all so very much!

[Drum roll, please...]

• Myles Black
• Chris Canida
• Jeff Cole
• Jeff Creel
• Kris Day
• Chris Dennett
• Jacob Engstrom
• Teresa Enigma
• Cody Erhart
• Joel Finkelstein
• Al Foster
• Mike Gamber
• Vernon Gubele Jr.
• David Hyde
• Noah Jenkins
• Fred Kahn
• Zach Mallon
• Ellen Mendoza
• Peter Nierengarten
• Dale Noonkester
• Jim O’Neil
• Nick Peterson
• Darci Rudzinski
• Josh Springer
• Bob Stipe
• Justin Wheeler
• Irek Wielgosz
• Karen Williams

Oh yes, and staffers helped, too, like Executive Director Scott Fogarty. (FOT file)

Andy is the Volunteer & Outreach Program Specialist and can be reached at AndyM@FriendsofTrees.org or 503-282-8846 ext. 24.

The weather in the morning dipped below 32 degrees Saturday, Dec. 5, but the vibrant volunteers and home owners from the Buckman, Hosford-Abernethy and Richmond neighborhoods were not deterred.

For more photos of the planting, which warmed up later in the day, visit the Friends of Trees Flickr page.

The next Neighborhood Trees plantings are Saturday, Dec. 12, in Beaverton and also the Brentwood-Darlington, Mt. Scott Arleta and Woodstock neighborhoods of Portland.

–Toshio Suzuki

Staffer Melissa mulches amidst the snow at last year's gift tree planting in Wilsonville, Dec. 14. (Chijo Takeda)

-Dec. 5, Sat. 10 a.m., is a Tree Planting with Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge

-Rail Trail parking lot along Wintel Road-

-Dec. 5, Sat. 9 a.m. -1 p.m., is Neighborhood Trees (NT) Planting with Friends of Trees

-St. Paul Lutheran Church, 3880 SE Brooklyn St., Portland-

NT planting for the Buckman, Hosford-Abernathy and Richmond neighborhoods begins at 9 a.m. with Starbucks Coffee and Voodoo Doughnuts. Remember to dress appropriately and come out for the community planting! Walk-in volunteers are welcome.

-Dec. 12, Sat. 9 a.m. -1 p.m., is Green Space Initiative (GSI) Planting with Friends of Trees

-Durham City Park, Tigard-

Six plantings in and the GSI program has already planted over 3,300 native trees and shrubs. See what all the hype is about and don’t forget to show up early for the coffee, snacks and chit-chat. Remember to dress appropriately; and walk-in volunteers are always welcome.

-Dec. 12, Sat. 9 a.m. -1 p.m., is NT Planting with Friends of Trees

-Beaverton, meeting site TBD-

The NT crew takes its show on the road to Beaverton, adding to its running tally of street and yard trees planted on the season.

-Dec. 12, Sat. 9 a.m. -1 p.m., is NT Planting with Friends of Trees

-Brentwood-Darlington Community Center, 7211 SE 62nd Ave, Portland-

NT planting for the Brentwood-Darlington, Mt. Scott Arleta and Woodstock neighborhoods begins at 9 a.m. with Starbucks Coffee and Voodoo Doughnuts. Remember to dress appropriately and come out for the community planting! Walk-in volunteers are welcome.

-Dec. 17, Thu. 10-11 a.m., is Canopy Campaigns and Public Tree Goals with Alliance for Community Trees

Online webinar will share insights from national specialists on tree canopy estimates and the keys to balancing public relations with the implementation of achievable initiatives.

--For more information on any Friends of Trees events, please contact Andy Meeks at 503-282-8846 ext. 24 or andym@FriendsofTrees.org. For even more information, please contact Greg Tudor at 503-282-8846 ext. 12, or GregT@FriendsofTrees.org–-

—To submit an event listing, contact Toshio Suzuki at ext. 16, or ToshioS@FriendsofTrees.org—