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Day 25: A recap / lookback of the past few days
Before I get to the day of service, let me make sure everyone is up to date on what has been planted and where:
Thursday: Diablo Ninebark Treeform (Physocarpus opulifolius) - I couldn't find a website with a good description of this tree that wasn't also selling them. It is one of the coolest trees I've planted. Its bark peels off kinda like a Birch Tree and it is small. It looks to me like a mini tree; great for an area where you don't have a lot of space or ability to grow a tall tree.
Saturday: Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) - This tree was planted in the South East quadrant of Indianapolis, which ensured that I had planted a tree in every corner of the city. It was a part of a planting across the grounds of Southminster Church on Southeastern Avenue along I-74.
Sunday: Black Maple (Acer Nigrum) - My official list said I was going to plant a Black Oak today, but I didn't have one available, so I went with a Black Maple instead. It was my 4th tree planted along Binford Avenue. I made it out and did the planting in between the rain this morning. I think I would prefer to plant on a warm dry day where I have to dig through hard ground than in the rain. The rain made the soil incredibly heavy and hard to deal with, but the tree looks great, and Binford Avenue now has 4 new trees to go with the 300+ that have been planted the past 5 years.
So that is what is in the ground. Here are my reflections from the day of service:
- You read about my interaction with Shirley on Thursday, one other heartwarming moment was when 5 year old girl came out of her house with a shovel and helped planted one of the trees. I have no idea why I didn't take a picture of this; it was such a great moment.
- Walking down the streets (we planted on Temple and Eastern between Washington and New York) after the planting, it just felt different. I felt like we had made a contribution to help this neighborhood. It also looked nicer. The line of trees have made the properties more attractive. As the trees grow and mature, it will really make a difference.
- As Shirley said, this neighborhood doesn't get much attention, but it needs it. As Indianapolis is getting sidewalks repaired across the city, I hope this area is not missed. It would be another great step.
- Orgainzations (like mine) spend lots of money on activities like Holiday Parties and Social Events. It feels great to be a part of a place who will also spend money on an event like this. I think there is a lot more bang for the buck. The process of working in small teams doing community service allows for building of much deeper relationships than sitting around at a Holiday Party drinking a fancy drink. The activity helps create conversation and its fun.
- KIB does a great job setting up to make sure a community serivce day goes well. They picked a really impactful neighborhood, and ran a great day.
- I think my peers at Crowe are all tree experts now, they probably all went home and remulched their trees. I was really impressed with their ability to plant so many trees so quickly (we got done about 45 minutes faster than KIB had anticipated...Go Crowe!)
I hope that this day is something I can help my company to build on. Though I don't think we will all take off work for a day next year to plant trees, I'm hoping to find small groups to volunteer with things like KIB Clubs. If you are reading this and wondering about...maybe this would be something good for my company, I am sure KIB would love to talk to you about it. So would I. Just drop me a line at Feiney@yahoo.com.
