By Andy Meeks

On Sunday, April 29, Friends of Trees volunteer leaders and staff gathered at our office for our annual end-of-season Volunteer Potluck & Awards celebration. Staff members gathered with crew leaders, neighborhood coordinators, and office volunteers to celebrate one another, as well as the completion of a very successful planting season.

In addition to enjoying a wide array of tasty foods and beverages, we had raffle giveaways, tree games, the ever-popular four square game, and, of course, our volunteer awards ceremony.

We unveiled a brand new award this season called The Conan Award. It was created to recognize those crew leaders who lead crews for the Neighborhood Trees and Green Space Initiative programs and who set themselves apart from this exclusive group with their leadership skills and sustained dedication. Named in honor of Conan Harmon-Walker, a leader among leaders at Friends of Trees.

Here we honor our most dedicated volunteers who excelled in their roles and helped make Friends of Trees an even stronger and better organization. They deserve our sincere gratitude and appreciation for their sustained and dedicated efforts:

Chris Canida—Volunteer of the Year
Forest Tanier-Gesner—Neighborhood Trees Crew Leader of the Year
Sonny Newson—Green Space Initiative Crew Leader of the Year
Kenny Symonds—The Conan Award
Jeff Kisseloff—Neighborhood Trees Rookie of the Year
Neva Knott—Green Space Initiative Rookie of the Year
Wendy Gehring—Office Volunteer of the Year
Westside Vancouver—Neighborhood Group of the Year

• Neighborhood coordinators representing these neighborhoods are: Sue Bluestein (Hough), Susan Sanders (Carter Park), Claire Beagle (Edgewood Park), Cynthia Thornton-Tang, Glenn Dollar (Lincoln), Catherine Cannon (Shumway)

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