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| Tree Giveaway at Libraries, Museums |
2010 Tree distribution a success!
Through A LA Maison, a hurricane recovery organization
dedicated to rebuilding communities and re-greening Louisiana, we distributed
15,000 tree seedlings from the Arbor Day Foundation throughout South Louisiana
in parishes hard hit by the four hurricanes of the past five years. Parishes
visited: Baton Rouge, Cameron, Calcasieu, Iberia, Lafayette, Lafourche, St.
Martin, Terrebonne, Vermilion
Trees distributed this year: 15,000
Trees distributed in
2009: 25,000
Trees distributed in
2008: 1,500
Trees distributed in
2007: 100 (mature trees from Baton Rouge Green)
Trees distributed in
total: Almost 42,000!!
For more information, contact Chere Coen at chere@louisianabooknews.com.
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| Lake Charles |
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| Houma |
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| Baton Rouge, which lost at least 10% of its tree canapy to Hurricane Gustav. Next to me is a Boy Scout getting trees for his camp. |
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| Cameron, at the new library! The old one was destroyed by Rita and we gave away seedlings in 2009 from their bookmobile. |
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| My niece Jacquie Guillot helped me pass out seedlings in Loreauville. We had a steady crowd outside the library and finished early. |
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| Baton Rouge Boy Scouts planting seedlings at their camp north of town, which received extensive damage due to Hurricane Gustav. |
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2009 Tree distribution a success!!
The Resurrection Project, a collaborative hurricane recovery organization dedicated to rebuilding communities and regreening Louisiana, received a donation of 25,000 tree seedlings from the Arbor Day Foundation and we have been traveling throughout South Louisiana distributing them. Our aim was to help replace the thousands and thousands of trees lost to the storms of the last four years and to keep Louisiana green and secure. Read our tree blog below!
Parishes visited: Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, Iberia, Lafayette, Lafourche, St. Landry, St. Martin, Terrebonne, Vermilion
Trees distributed: 25,000!!
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All donations are tax deductible -- just ask for a receipt with our non-profit information.
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| Saturday, March 28, 2009 I made my last stop Wednesday, March 25, at an elementary school in Forked Island where the Vermilion Parish Bookmobile stops weekly. Not only did some residents -- and teachers -- receive seedlings but children learned about trees on their way to get books.
I stopped in New Iberia afterwards to meet my niece Jacquie who took several hundred off my hands the week before to give out in Loreauville. I gave her about 400 last week and they were gone in a matter of hours so she requested more. The ones she received on Wednesday went equally fast so she came by this weekend and picked up the last of them.
I am now down to a very few. I planted a few maples and cypress in pots (in addition to the free ones I got by joining the Arbor Day Foundation in January so I will soon have a forest growing in my back yard) and have a few people off Freecycle coming by to pick up the rest.
So the tree giveaway is over and I'm pleased to report all 25,000 tree seedlings received a good home in South Louisiana. It's back to work for me (my day job, that is) but I will miss being the "Tree Lady."
—Cheré Coen
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| Taylor helping pass out trees at the Jean Lafitte Acadian Wetlands Center in Thibodaux |
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Saturday, March 21, 2009Baton Rouge, Thibodaux
Saturday was a very busy day. We started out early, dropping off seedlings at the Baton Rouge Spring Garden Show with help from one of the vendors (thank you so much whomever you were!) and then at the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge. From there, we headed "down the bayou" to Thibodaux where we planted ourselves in front of the Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and gave out trees for three hours. In addition to helping the Thibodaux area, representatives from BISCO, a recovery group located in Houma, arrived to pick up some for the Houma area. My sweet Taylor helped me out once again (thank you Taylor!) and we had a fun-filled day. We didn't give them all away, so now we have some to bring to Forked Island on Wednesday.
Before heading back to Lafayette we got a chance to see cousins in Houma - Sandra Falcon and Susan, Steve and Sheree Guidroz. That was nice lagniappe.
The next day, on Sunday, we gave a few to the Unitarian Fellowship of Lafayette and a couple of friends who are teachers.
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| Bald cypress in bloom in Thibodaux - see what your seedlings will do! |
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| Taylor and I fooling around with the camera in Thibodaux. |
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| Loreauville March 19, 2009
I dropped off some of my four varieties to my niece "Wacky Jacquie" Guillot because she wanted trees and so did several family members of hers and friends. I also had an insistent caller named Gary who kept wondering when I was going to come to Loreauville! I gave Jacquie about 400 trees and she assured she would find them homes. A few hours later she emailed me to say she had already given away 200 just to friends, family and acquaintances of both!
Later note: Jacquie helped me give out trees in 2010 in Loreauville and through her efforts spreading the word, we had a steady stream and ran out early.
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| Jacquie and her daughter, Kassidy, in 2010. |
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| Garden Symposium at the New Iberia Library. |
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| New Iberia
March 14, 2009
Participants of the Garden Symposium enjoyed receiving trees and were grateful for the opportunity to enhance their yards and replace downed trees lost in the storms. Gail Garcia, who lined up the event, took many for herself and another batch for her husband who will be planting them in a nearby reserve. I was excited to hear about that. For every five miles of cypress forest we loose a foot of storm surge. Please remember this and don't buy cypress mulch!!! We need to keep our Louisiana cypress where it belongs — in the ground.
Today's event was the 13th in 10 days and the sixth parish visited and I'm pooped. I brought home a few new plants in my car, however, gifts from the symposium. So in addition to lots of seedlings in my carport, I now have a bunch of aloe vera and an iris. My home looks like a nursery.
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| Hackberry, Louisiana |
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| Julie and her husband helped me give out trees in Johnson Bayou on a cold and rainy afternoon. |
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| A foggy view of the Gulf of Mexico at Holly Beach. This southwest section of Louisiana, near to the Texas border, was severly hit by both hurricanes Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008. |
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Hackberry and Johnson Bayou, Louisiana
March 13, 2009
Heading out of Lake Charles, one turns south at Sulphur and travels down the beautiful Creole Nature Trail to the Gulf of Mexico. The rides takes about an hour and you travel through the town of Hackberry with Grand Lake on one side and marshes on the other and plenty of wildlife everywhere. Usually, visitors spot lots of gators around here but the weather turned cold, rainy and foggy and those guys like to hide during cold snaps. I did spot a lot of great blue herons, great white egrets, coots, kingfishers and other coastal birds.
Julie of the Hackberry Library, which is the Johnson Bayou Bookmobile until the Hackberry Library is renovated due to storm damage (the rebuilding of the Johnson Bayou library is still in the discussion stages), helped me give out trees along the porch of the old library. We had quite a few people come out to pick up trees even though the weather wasn't the best. I loved the fog on the marshes but it was cold. I stopped at the local Dollar Store and bought a winter sweater on sale for 80 cents, right before enjoying a plate lunch of fried shrimp at Brown's Grocery nearby.
Julie lives in Johnson Bayou, which is on the Gulf of Mexico (directly south to Holly Beach, then west for a few miles), so I followed her home, so to speak. We gave out trees at the Johnson Bayou Community Center in more rain.
I so wanted to stop and walk along the beach, have never been to the Gulf in my home state, but the rain started coming down harder and I was weary and longing for home. Even though the drive along the Gulf was beautiful, my heart was heavy seeing the horrible destruction along the way. Holly Beach and Johnson Bayou are but shells of their former lives. Some have brought in trailers, some have rebuilt up in the air and many have given up after flooding twice. Most of the souls I met in both towns were staying put, rebuilding once again and putting new trees in the ground.
After all, this is home. And I can understand that completely being from New Orleans.
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| Lake Charles Library Librarians. |
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| There was quite a crowd in Lake Charles. |
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Lake Charles and Iowa, Louisiana
March 12, 2009
I arrived an hour early to the Lake Charles Library and people were already waiting for the trees. As soon as I got my buckets on the table, I began giving out trees with help from several librarians. We had quite a crowd and gave out hundreds within an hour — before I was scheduled to start! The following two hours — my scheduled time — was just as busy. It wasn't long before I ran out of live oak, then all the backups in my trunk. Habitat for Humanity came and took 75 to give to the residents of the 75 homes they have built during the last three years. Another woman wanted to start a tree farm and took quite a few. Most, however, came to replace the many trees they lost in hurricanes Rita and Ike. One woman said she had lost 200 trees!
Three hours later, thousands of trees gone and I was wiped out — literally and physically. I don't know what I would have done without the great help of the librarians. They helped me deal with a constant three-hour crowd, bringing in new bags as soon as I ran out.
Knowing I had to go to Iowa (pronounced I-O-Way) for 2 p.m. and I was down to the trees in my buckets, I called my husband Bruce and asked for help. My dear, sweet partner drove to Iowa from the east with a trunk full of trees while I drove over from the west and we met at the Iowa library just before the rains set in. We had a good crowd there as well, with help from the branch librarian Cornell and the public relations director Danielle McGavock. We even had a gentleman show up at Lake Charles looking for live oaks, and when he found out we had run out, drove to Iowa knowing that more were coming!
So many of these residents have large acreage and they wanted to replant trees everywhere. It was a great feeling knowing that so many trees were getting nice homes in the southwest.
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| Bruce saves the day in Iowa. |
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| Danielle and Cornell (me in the middle) at the Iowa Library. |
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| Giving out trees at the Grand Chenier Library. |
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| The Cameron Library librarians. |
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| Cheré gives out trees in Cameron. |
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| Grand Chenier and Cameron, Louisiana
March 11, 2009
I drove South, then along the Louisiana coast toward Texas to Grand Chenier, a lovely community full of live oak trees. Cheniers in southwest Louisiana are a unique attribute of the state, groupings of live oak trees among the prairie. Grand Chenier literally means a large group of trees.
It was appropriate, then, that I would be bringing trees back to the coast, in front of the Grand Chenier Library. I heard over and over again how many trees the residents lost in this hard-hit area. First, Hurricane Rita took its tole, then Hurricane Ike. Many people who rebuilt after Rita and moved back into their homes were flooded again last year when Ike rolled in. Yet, here they were, picking up trees to replant once again. I have nothing but great respect for the residents who live along Louisiana's coast, the absolute epitome of resilience.
After a fabulous shrimp burger at the Hurricane Café in Cameron, I gave out trees in front of the Cameron Bookmobile next store. Their library was washed out and they, like many others in the parish, are operating in a temporary location, usually one with wheels. We had a nice turnout and the weather turned so warm (80s) I got sun on my face and arms. The librarians were so helpful at both locations and the cafe manager brought me lots of bags (it's a recurrent problem, running out of bags).
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| The Hurricane Cafe in Cameron. |
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| Sadly, this is what most of the coast looks like due to hurricanes Rita and Ike. |
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| March 9, 2009 Pecan Island, Louisiana
It's a beautiful drive from Lafayette down to Pecan Island — and even lovelier when it's early in the morning and a fog is hugging the crawfish ponds, live oak cheniers and salt marshes. I saw all kinds of birds this morning, including a whole flock of creatures eating something vigorously in a crawfish pond. My tree giveaway was next to the Vermilion Parish Bookmobile, which visits Pecan Island every Monday morning. There was a library on the "island" but it was moved off its foundation during Hurricane Rita in 2005 and insurance was too high for the parish library to rebuild it. The Gates Foundation gave the library a grant for the bookmobile, which visits all the "islands" now: Pecan Island, Cow Island and Forked (pronounced fork-id) Island.
I visited the area after Rita and the devastation was incredible. It was heart-breaking. Today, I was relieved to see lots of recovery, although saddened to hear that several residents had passed away in the last month.
So why are they called islands? Good question. When you gaze across the Cajun prairies there are areas that rise up like an island. Some are due to live oak cheniers, or tree groupings, and some because of salt domes underneath. The domes remain solid as the land erodes away and an island of land appears. Pecan Island was named because it's situated between two ridges, according to Wikepedia, but I'm not sure about that. If one of you wonderful Pecan Islanders reads this, email me and let me know the whole story.
On the way home I stopped at Suire's Grocery and Restaurant and enjoyed their plate lunch special of fresh Cajun sausage served over rice and gracy, black-eyed peas, some fabulous fresh cole slaw and a slice of black cake. I brought home crawfish etouffee for later. Talk about good!
If you ever get a chance to wonder down to the islands of South Louisiana, don't pass it up. —Cheré Coen
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| Three wonderful ladies came to pick up trees to plant in Pecan Island today. |
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| My back seat is now home to hundreds of tree seedlings. |
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| Bruce Coen and Connie Holmes hand out trees March 8 at the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge. |
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| March 8, 2009 Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge
We gave out trees after the first service around 10:30 p.m. to members of the Unitarian Church and again after the second service, about 12:30 p.m., to church members and the public. We had a steady line until 3 p.m. and estimate that we gave away about 600 trees. What made the day so very special was arborist Scott Courtright, who graciously volunteered his time to speak to people picking up seedlings. Scott offered so much great information, such as when is the best time to plant, which trees are best for specific properties, how these native trees grow and react to storms such as hurricanes and how to keep trees in good health. I know I learned so much!
Scott also told us that Baton Rouge lost about 10 percent of its tree canopy due to Hurricane Gustav. Driving to and from the Capital City from Lafayette, you could see the hundreds of downed trees everywhere. Another disturbing piece of news that Scott related was that people in Baton Rouge were cutting down healthy trees to prevent them from falling in future storms.
We also had a science teacher who took about 50 trees for a project he is working on with his kids. They are helping to replant Fontainebleu State Park in Mandeville, which lost a lot of trees due to Hurricane Katrina.
—Cheré Coen
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| Arborist Scott Courtright graciously volunteered his time to teach people about trees. |
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| Taylor Coen helping give out trees in Grand Coteau. |
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| One of the many families who came to get trees in Grand Coteau. |
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| Cheré Coen handing out trees in Grand Coteau. |
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March 7, 2009
Casa Azul Gift Shop, Grand Coteau
We gave away a lot of tree seedlings today, possibly as many as 1600! We even ran out of cypress (I underestimated that one, had many people wanting cypress to plant around ponds and coulee banks) but that didn't happen to well into the event. One couple was on its way home to Lafayette so I suggested they come by my house to pick up some. Since Patrice Melnick, who owns Casa Azul and graciously let us use her front porch for this event, wanted two cypress, our nice couple picked up two for her as well.
My son Taylor helped me out today and was a natural. Think he learned quite a bit about horticulture as well.
Tomorrow we head to Baton Rouge for a full day of tree seedling giveaways. Baton Rouge lost many many trees due to Hurricane Gustav.
—Cheré Coen
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| Tree seedlings donated by the Arbor Day Foundation to be given away in Grand Coteau on March 7. |
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| March 6, 2009 Delcambre Library, Delcambre, Louisiana
Word got out after being on the TV news and we had a steady stream of Louisiana residents wanting new trees in front of the Delcambre Library today. Many people had acres of land in and around this town an hour south of Lafayette and they took large numbers of trees to plant. One man came all the way from Gueydan to pick up trees! After two days of giving trees away, we distributed more than 2,000! Abby Patterson from the Abbeville Library again assisted us, and we met the Delcambre Branch Manager, Bonnie Richard, who showed us photos of the entire town of Delcambre under water after Hurricane Rita in 2005. Richard lost everything in her apartment but is happily settled next door to the library in a second floor apartment. Other residents have raised their houses, but some unfortunate souls were flooded again when Hurricane Ike came through. I'll bet you all didn't know that South Louisiana towns from Delcambre all the way to the Texas border were flooded like they were in Rita although the water wasn't quite as high or as dirty and didn't hang around as long. Still, what a mess. Richard told me one person raised his house and still got flooded in Ike. Most of the people coming out today were planting trees to replace ones they lost in any of the FOUR hurricanes that have hit South Louisiana in the last four years. We all agreed we were due for a long LONG period of time without storms.
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Photos by Cheré Coen
Delcambre Library Branch Manager and Delcambre resident Bonnie Richard, left, and Bruce Coen pose in the Delcambre Library after giving away more than 1200 trees donated by the Arbor Day Foundation. Bonnie is now the proud owner of four Louisiana tree species.
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| This hurricane-damaged Delcambre home waits to be refurbished. |
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| What Delcambre is known for - giant beautiful shrimp fresh from the Gulf. |
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March 5, 2009
Abbeville Library, Abbeville
We had a line waiting for us when I drove up to the Abbeville Library due to the wonderful publicity we got ahead of time. Abby Patterson, the library's program and public relations coordinator had a table set up and was ready to hand out trees. I really appreciated the help because the line remained steady all the way until 3 p.m. I estimated we gave away about 800 trees, plus numerous booklets. Channel 3 showed up and interviewed me, then ran it at the 5 o'clock news. They were really wonderful, plugging all the upcoming tree giveaways in Acadiana.
Some of the people had received trees from us last year and wanted more but most just wanted to replace the ones they had lost from Gustav and Ike or to fill up their acreage; many people in Vermilion Parish live on large pieces of land. One woman told us she lost 11 trees from the storms. Another woman took home several cypress to replace the ones "drowned" from Gustav.
Tomorrow we head to Delcambre and this time I have a better plan of transporting the trees and keeping them moist.
—Cheré Coen
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| Trees-Abbeville |
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Photo by Cheré Coen
Abby Patterson, the program and public relations coordinator at the Abbeville Main Library in Abbeville, Louisiana, hands out trees to Vermilion Parish residents. Abby helped us with the tree giveaway on March 5 and we were so glad she did! We had a line waiting for us before noon and it remained steady until quitting time at 3 p.m.
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Keep checking back for updates and photos from the road. And thanks to all of you who have given so generously for this cause to replant Louisiana!!
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