The Susie Forest

One day as I was stopping for the light at 6th and Stevens I was stunned to see that the big trees across the street were gone. I loved those trees. I called the arborist and he told me that they were old, weak and becoming a hazard; they came down but they would be replaced by the school district. Well, I don’t let tree planting opportunities pass me by. Lewis and Clark was Susie’s alma mater and I wanted those trees to be in the Susie Forest. There are lots of great students and interesting groups in high schools that nobody hears about. I asked the school if each tree could have a sponsor and participate in the planting. I got a yes! And so this winter I visited meetings of the drama club, the Japanese club, the ecology club, the debate team, and class periods of advanced art and special education. I showed Susie in the 1983 yearbook and told her story; I left tree-grams for them to fill out. I enjoyed the visits very much and got a great reception form the students.
So, tomorrow, although it may be raining, six trees will be planted and adorned and, I hope, become important to some great kids.

It’s the ninth anniversary of Susie’s death and I still expect her to call. I want to walk into my apartment and hear her voice on my answering machine, “Hey, Mom, it’s Susie” That’s not going to happen this day or any other, so I keep busy March 21st. Planting a tree is the best busyness that I can think of because I feel her there and know she approves. It was a misty tree planting and the Scarlet Oak is hanging on to its brown, lifeless leaves, but I could still feel its autumn brightness. I will make a special trip to Minnehaha Park next fall to enjoy that color. Here’s to you, Susie! We miss you!

I just watched Julie and Julia and now I know I don’t write these blogs often enough or up to date enough. So I’ll start now. Tree planting starts tomorrow, but first I want to comment about a couple of events that happened in the fall and winter. In October I donated a tree to The Bicycle Alliance of Washington’s auction. I stood up and gave my Susie spiel and then the bidding began. When it reached $1000, I offered a second tree. Wow! Two thousand dollars of the Alliance and two trees in the Puget Sound area. Then in Febrary I donated a tree to The Methow Conservancy. They didn’t want bids on the tree but wanted it as an incentive for the open giving section of the auction. If the amount reached $5000 I would donate a tree; it reached $10,000 and there will be two Susie trees in the Methow Valley. Right now the members of the Conservancy are choosing where the trees will be planted. Now I have two options to offer to auctions I want to help out.
Now to the future.Tomoorow is the ninth anniversary of Susie’s death and her anniversary tree will be planted in Minnehaha Park in Northeast Spokane at 1:30. If anybody reads this please feel invited. I will give more notice of tree plantings in the future but the location was just discovered on Thursday and the time decided on Friday.
With planting season underway I will be writing more often, so keep tuned.

The trees are planted, the tree-grams are hanging from the branches, the tree kibbles are eaten and the snow is falling. Now is a good time to think back about this fall’s trees before I start planning for the spring. Or earlier – more about that later.
On October 19 C&H Auto Repair planted their third tree. I actually tricked them into planting their first tree. When I asked they agreed to let me be their spotlighted customer for their newsletter and write about The Susie Forest. They wanted a picture and I thought the best would be a picture in front of the tree they just planted. They agreed and the picture was taken in front of their newly planted tulip tree. The owners and workers enjoyed the tree that they have planted one every year since. There’s room for one more.
A good reason to plant a tree is to thank those who have worked hard and long for you. That’s what Andy Billig did on Election Day. Before the outcome was known he planted a Champion Green Ash in Grant Park for his volunteers. He did win and has said that he wants to plant a tree again when he runs for office again in two years.
I’d better get this posted and reminisce some more another day.

It was a whirlwind fall of tree plantings. Tree #112 in Spokane and the 10th tree in Spokane County were planted last week. Tomorrow I head to Connecticut to spend Thanksgiving with family and to visit my brother’s tree. While I’m gone I will reflect on all the wonderful happenings of this fall. And when I get home I will start planning next spring’s plantings.

The supplies are all ready and I’m prepared for the big push – five plantings in eight days. Monday starts with St Aloysis at 10:45. Those students have read lots and lots of books and voted for a yellowwood to be planted in the strip in front of their school on Mission Ave. Then on Tuesday I’ll be at Audubon Park at 10:00 to say thank you with a tree to Jim Flynn who planted thousands of white pines to bring back the forests of Idaho 35 years after The Big Burn. He deserves his own tree in place where he can see it every day. Thursday is a big day because the 100th tree in the Susie Forest in the city of Spokane will be planted to celebrate 100 years of women’s suffrage in the state. The League of Women Voters will be at the corner of Washington and Spokane Falls Blvd at 11:00 to help the planting party. Friday we plant the first tree in the second 100 in the Susie Forest in Spokane by the first tree in the first 100. It will be planted by the tupelo in front of Witter Pool at 9:00 a.m. An then on Monday morning we travel to Cannon Hill Park at 11:00 to help Senator Lisa Brown plant the tree that she donated after Susie’s death. They worked together to help get the Cooper Jones bill passed through the state legislature. What a week! Tree-grams and cookies and trees!

I looked in the drawer and there were no supplies – I’d used them all up in Chattanooga. So it was off to the hardware store to buy biodegradable twine and then I cut it up. Then off to Super One to buy supplies for the tree-kibbles and to get the paper bags for the tree-grams. Back home to cut and punch and string the tree-grams and sift and measure and stir and bake the cookies. There was enough Contac paper to laminate the bookmarks, so I finished those up. And all that’s left is to fold the brochures. I’m almost ready for the first of the tree plantings next week.

I’m just back from our first (and I hope annual) neighborhood tree walk to choose the Cliff-Cannon Tree of the Year. And the winner is: a beautiful magnolia in the 1100 block of S Wall. The family passed around photos of the tree in full bloom and I think that helped the tree become a winner. There were 13 votes cast although walkers and cyclists joined and fell away during the walk. In order to vote a walker had to return to Cliff Park at the end of the tour. Everyone seemed very enthused about the event, so I think it will expand next year. We saw many things in our neighborhood that can’t be noticed from a car.Neighborhood walks are a great activity and trees make them enjoyable.

This morning I hope there will a good crowd walking the Cliff-Cannon neighborhood looking at four nominated trees for our Neighborhood Tree of the Year. We’re going to meet at Cliff Park at 10:30 and walk and look for the trees with the ribbons on them.We’ve invited the nominators to bring as many family and friends to give a boost to their tree. When we return to Cliff Park we’ll vote and I’ll hand out my beautiful certificate. Pictures of the winning tree and its owners will be on our neighborhood website. The prize for the winner will be a tree in the Susie Forest. They can choose the site and we’ll have a tree planting party in a few weeks. I’m hoping for a good turnout so we can make this an annual event. So, if you’re reading this, come on out!

I’m back from Chattanooga and I’m as high as a tree in a redwood forest. It would take a fire truck with a really long ladder to get me down and I’m not sure I’d let the firemen bring me down.
I’ve gone to Pro Walk Pro Bike before and felt all the passion around me that Susie felt and I submerged myself in it and felt her so close. But this time I came with this really great passion of my own to add to the mix – I talked the Susie Forest to everyone I met at the conferences and on the airplanes. And I came home with between 35 and 40 pledges of trees – Susie Forest beer and pepper bottles really helped. We’ll get those labels on the web site soon so you can doctor your own bottles. The pledges covered a huge area – from Hawaii on the west to Lebanon on the east, from Canada on the north to Puerto Rico on the south. So all of you who pledged, PLEASE plant those trees – the Susie Forest needs them, but especially, the world needs them.
One of the places that I really want to plant a tree is St Louis at the Arch because Susie spent her last evening there. It is a federal park and there are planned changes taking place sometime in the future so I knew there would be problems getting a tree there. While at the conference I went to dinner with a large contingent from Missouri. I told them Susie’s story, showed pictures, and asked for their help. They gave it and 24 hours later they had received an OK from the superintendent of the park. No wonder I don’t want to come down from this high.