Three decades of planting trees in S.F.

This feature published online yesterday from The Christian Science Monitor is about a prolific San Francisco tree planter.

An excerpt:

It might be a Brisbane box, a bronze loquat, a primrose, or a purple leaf plum. Whatever the species of tree, chances are excellent that Charlie Starbuck helped plant it.

Not as in ordered the tree or arranged for the planting. But as in actually put his fingers in the dirt and planted it.

A soft-spoken gentleman fond of berets, Starbuck has volunteered for a citywide tree-planting program since 1981, nearly without interruption. That’s almost 30 years of weekly plantings, without pay, come rain or shine.

“For Charlie to be that consistent…” says Doug Wildman, program director of San Francisco’s Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF), his voice trailing off as he searches for the right superlative. “Well, he’s our rock.”

Does this sound like any Friends of Trees volunteer…?

–Toshio Suzuki