Nearly 600 volunteers honor Dr. King at our plantings

Another weekend, another outpouring of community support! During MLK Weekend of Service Jan. 19-21, nearly 600 volunteers planted trees and removed invasive plants at our seven events in six Oregon cities.

The four Portland-area plantings were Hands On Greater Portland sites for MLK Weekend of Service, and three of the weekend plantings—two in Portland and one in Eugene—included crews that biked their trees and tools to planting sites. Altogether, the MLK Weekend of Service volunteers planted nearly 400 street and yard trees and 1,500 bareroot trees, shrubs and willow stakes.

Saturday’s planting in Astoria wrapped up the Portland Timbers’ Dribble Oregon tour, which included youth soccer clinics, meet-and-greets with team players, and tree plantings in cities across Oregon and SW Washington. Friends of Trees was proud to Stand Together with the team and JELD-WEN Windows & Doors for the 2013 tour.

Portland’s Neighborhood Trees plantings on Saturday drew 141 volunteers to Laurelhurst, Sunnyside, Kerns and North Tabor neighborhoods, where they planted 99 trees, and 176 volunteers to the Creston-Kenilworth, Foster-Powell, South Tabor and Reed neighborhoods, where they planted 280 trees. The plantings were made possible through Friends of Trees’ partnership with Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services. The above photos of the Laurelhurst, Sunnyside,  Kerns and North Tabor planting were taken by Eric Allen.

“I was impressed with the incredible level of organization,” wrote a South Tabor homeowner. “What fun! I met new neighbors I didn’t know I had, made plans for future gathering, and talked with neighbors I had forgotten names of. … I was impressed with the level of education going on—great leadership and ensuring quality work every step of the way. … It’s no wonder your organization starts with the word ‘friends.’ You have a couple of new ones in us, and we look forward to future involvement and support.”

Saturday’s planting in Eugene was our first neighborhood planting in North Eugene. More than 50 boy scouts, high school students, homeowners, and members of the University of Oregon Outdoor Program planted 28 trees in the Cal Young, Northeast and Harlow neighborhoods, including two 16-foot European Hornbeams.

On Monday, more than a hundred volunteers planted 1,500 bareroot trees and shrubs and willow stakes, and removed invasive blackberry and ivy, at Atfalati Park in Tualatin. The planting was held in partnership with the City of Tualatin and Clean Water Services. Keith Nevison took these photos at the planting:

Also on Monday, more than a hundred volunteers planted 22 street trees along the I-205 Multi-Use Path and remulched trees that Friends of Trees volunteers had planted there three years ago. Event sponsor REI Portland offered raffle prizes at the event, which was part of a four-year project with Metro, Oregon Department of Transportation, EMSWCD and area nonprofits, agencies and businesses to green the 16.5-mile path. Thank you to the Bike Gallery for donating a cargo trailer to Friends of Trees last week. It was put to good use at the planting, as you can see in Logan Lauvray’s photos below.

Finally, more than 20 volunteers planted 15 trees at the Whilamut Natural Area along the Willamette River in Springfield on Monday. They also pulled invasive ivy, laurel and holly. The event was planned in collaboration with Willamalane Park and Recreation District. The sun broke through the misty chill throughout the morning, and volunteers witnessed a natural event most had never seen—a bald eagle in action, swooping in to catch a gull.

Many thanks to our generous MLK Weekend of Service partners, sponsors and volunters. This weekend we’ll have three plantings and a mid-season crew leader training in the Portland-metro area. We hope you’ll join us.