11 Responses to “1 + 29 trees for Jefferson Park”

1. posted by Celeste at December 12, 2007 9:47 pm :
   

   Bill Conkle, you have worked so hard, congrats (in advance) on getting the new trees planted!

2. posted by Bill Conkle at December 13, 2007 11:48 am :
   

   Thanks for your kind words, but I take very little credit for the new trees. It was a great community partnership with the City.

   Some of the trees are actually being planted as I type- it is wonderful to see the little fellas being put in the ground. With some love and care they will hopefully be healthy and grow to maturity and provide shade, clean air, and reduce stormwater runoff in the neighborhood.

   We are still looking for volunteers to work at 830am Saturday morning to complete the tree planting. On behalf of the Friends of Jefferson Park, thanks to everyone who supported this project.

3. posted by V at December 13, 2007 1:47 pm :
   

   If I could vote for my fav person on CHPN(besides J.Murden of course) it would be Bill Conkle. I have never met you but I love that all your posts are proactive, balanced, well informed and solution driven. Thank you for all the work and energy you pour into the community.

4. posted by MattC at December 14, 2007 2:06 pm :
   

   It was such a great start to my day this morning to drive past the park and see trees going in!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

5. posted by Bill Conkle at December 14, 2007 2:54 pm :
   

   Thanks V, I appreciate the nice comment. It means a lot to even be in the same sentence with John Murden.

   And I have to second Matt’s comment about how great it feels to see the trees actually being planted in the park. I cant wait for spring. Thanks again to all the folks that supported this grassroots community/City partnership to plant 29 trees in the park! I am honored to play a small part in the project.

   In other tree news, the City is offering a course to become a certified Tree Steward. Do you have an interest in learning just about everything to do with the identification, planting, maintenance and care of trees? The Monday evening classes begin February 4th. If you need more info, just let me know.

   Also, those of you who have green “gator” watering bags on your street trees…it is a good idea to remove them during the winter months. The winter weather deteriorates the bags and they will last much longer if they hibernate until spring.

   The tree planting tomorrow will take place rain or shine–meet 830am at the bandstand- you may need your rain pancho and rubbers. We expect the planting to take about 1hour, as the City hopes to have most of the trees in the ground today. Bring your hot coffee with you.

6. posted by Bill Conkle at December 16, 2007 2:13 am :
   

   The tree planting is nearing completion. This morning we had a fairly large group of volunteers that assisted in the planting of three trees and the re-planting of the holiday tree. We also learned a lot from Norm Brown (Urban Forester) about the proper planting of trees and their long term care. Thanks to everyone that took time out on a beautiful, crispy Saturday morning.

   There are still two red maples to be planted, but “miss utility” has to do her thing, before they can be planted. Additionally, there are four crepe myrtles that will be planted in the Spring of next year. 29 trees in all.

   Do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions about the FOJP or have an interest in improving our urban forest. junkifunki@aol.com 649-3764

7. posted by Scott Burger at December 16, 2007 10:33 am :
   

   Good job and congratualtions!

8. posted by Bill Conkle at December 19, 2007 5:07 pm :
   

   On behalf of the Friends of Jefferson Park, and all those folks in the future that will benefit from the Jefferson Park Tree Planting Project, THANK YOU.

   I apologize in advance if I excluded someone’s name from the list of folks involved in the tree planting project.

   City Staff Members who helped with the tree planting at Jefferson Park include from Urban Forestry- Norm Brown, Luke McCall and Mike Mathers; From Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities - Larry Miller, Mary Lois Mitchum, Dan Bremner, Curtis Shepard, Richard Bruce, Gary Smith, Martha Byrd, Terence Pendleton, Ken Starkes, John West, Stanley Squires, Wes Parsons, Irving Mitchell, James Saunders, Brian Hufner, Tim Brown and Wyn Price.

   Community Volunteers that helped with the tree planting on Saturday morning included: Christopher Boswell, Stacey Moulds, Mark Kronenthal, Keon Johnson,
   Bennett Smith, Marion MacDonald,
   John Caldwell, Amanda Brown, Chris Jones, Kristin Friedline, Vanessa Diamond, Jason Creech, Mike and Maria Onsel and Alicia Rasin.

   And thanks to all the folks that adopted trees in the park: Karen Flanders, Chris and Kristin Friedline, Connie and Kenneth Samuels, Elaine Odell and John Gerner, Lora Toothman and Joshua Cooley, Mike and Maria Onsel, Alisa Bailey, Daniel and Monica McGee, Dr. Tracy Citeroni, Karin and Lerry Schaftlein, Jen Black, Sam and Leah Smith, Tom and Julie O’Kelly, Ralph Oliver, Dixon Kerr, Stacey Moulds and Charles Field, Phyllis and Dillard Tupponce, Gray and Cynthia Oliver and the Folks on the “522″.

   And thanks to all the park users who take time to pick up trash and litter, and make the effort to use the park in a responsible manner.

   The Friends of Jefferson Park is an organization that works to enhance the park. There are no dues for membership, but members are expected to get involved in a park improvement project. Please contact me at junkifunki@aol.com for more information.

9. posted by Anita Pishko owner of Central Montessori School at December 19, 2007 6:10 pm :
   

   Dear Mr. Conkle, The children from Central Montessori School make it up to the park once or twice every week. We saw the holiday tree that magically appeared and were amazed at the different pine cones we found. We began pinecone research but are still looking for information. Beautiful. Our little school would love to partnership with your organization in any way you feel is appropriate. We have children between 3 and 7 and young healthy parents. Please let us know what we can do… Anita Pishko

10. posted by Bill Conkle at December 20, 2007 2:56 pm :
    

    Anita:

    Glad you and the small folks discovered the holiday tree. We really love it.

    Those pine cones came from an old box of decorations in my crawl space. I dropped them around the tree as a little joke, thinking folks might think the young tree already was dropping pine cones. What good fortune that the kids found them and were interested in their origin. Good luck with them figuring out where they came from.

    The Friends of Jefferson Park welcome the opportunity to partner with you on a park/school project. We have several that could use some help. Let’s talk soon. Welcome to the neighborhood!

    Bill Conkle 649-3764 junkifunki@aol.com

11. posted by john_m at January 2, 2008 7:58 pm :
    

    There will be a brief gathering at Jefferson Park on Saturday, January 5th at 9am to clean up the park and to take down holiday decorations. If you have placed ornaments on the holiday tree and want to retrieve them, please do so on or before Saturday morning. Ornaments left on Saturday morning will either be discarded or stored away for next year. Tree lights, wreaths and park bows will be stored for use at the park next year.

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