Kick Off Press Conference Photos
At the press conference held on December 2nd, Mayor Byard thanked everyone for coming out for the official announcement of the Prattville ReLeaf 2009. "This is going to be a tremendous program for our city. We have been selected by the Alabama Urban Forestry Association as their 2009 Arbor Day event for the State of Alabama. It will take place on Saturday, February 21, 2009. The goal is to plant 1,000 trees, one for each home, apartment, or business that was damaged in last February 17th's tornado," stated Mayor Jim Byard, Jr.
Mayor Jim and Beverly Byard at Tuesday's press conference.
Several affected residents who are part of the city family were in attendance: Michael Whaley's home was totally destroyed; Jade Clabough was out of her house for several months, and Paije Rupinen lost her windows and chimney.
Byard said, "During our last Arbor Day, my wife, Beverly Byard, thought it would be a good idea to plant some trees to give the residents whose property was damaged something to look at, something new, and something they didn't have to worry about because they were worried about their furniture, their belongings, and getting back into their homes. Their landscaping was something maybe they wouldn't have to worry about.
Beverly came up with this idea. She pitched it to her garden club, the Yaupon Garden Club, and they pitched it to the other two garden clubs. This is a joint project between the City of Prattville and our local garden clubs and the master gardeners. Joel Jackson with Greenwood Growers is supplying the trees that will be planted in February."
Beverly Byard took the podium and said, "Thank you all for coming to learn about the exciting things we have in store with Project ReLeaf. We've seen a lot of good things happening in Prattville since the tornado. We've seen our community come together to support those in need. We've seen people giving praise for their blessings and celebrating life. We've seen a lot of stores rebuilt and reopened. We've seen a lot of homes rebuilt. It is unfortunate that we cannot grow a tree as fast as we can rebuild a house, but we'd like to make a start. Project ReLeaf was born out of that same spirit of good will that was behind the initial recovery efforts and also a desire to restore the beauty of nature to these neighborhoods."
Members of local garden clubs: Yaupon, Diggers Delight, and Down to Earth.
Beverly introduced Carolyn Bent, the President of the Diggers Delight Garden Club, and Carolyn Gray, the President of the Down to Earth Garden Club, and Carolyn Watkins, who is the President of the Yaupon Garden Club was unable to be present this morning. She thanked the City of Prattville as their major partner in this effort, Joel Duke and the Planning Department for their assistance in organizing the event, Teresa Lee for designing the website for the project, C.C. Watkins who designed the logo and donated it to the project, and also, Joel Jackson who is providing 1,000 trees at wholesale cost.
"I do also want to thank Jim, as our mayor and also as my husband, who has been very supportive ever since this idea began. It was just a nice little idea while riding in the car down Sheila Boulevard one day that has become this huge undertaking.
This week, we will be sending out a letter to all of the residents in the area, about 864 of them giving them an overview of the program. In that letter will also be a response card. That card will give you details about the different types of trees that you can select to be in your yard. Please fill out that card and return it to the project team as soon as possible so that trees can be marked and made ready for February 21, 2009 which will be when we plant all of these trees. That will be our city's observance of Arbor Day. It will also be one year after the tornado which will be, I think, a great time of reflection and celebration for our city. It will also be a great opportunity for our citizens to again reach out to our friends and neighbors who have been affected through acts of service. Planting 1,000 trees in one day is a huge undertaking and it will require lots of hands doing a lot of hard work so we need a lot of volunteers. If you are a master gardener, a forester, a landscaper, we could use your help overseeing our teams planting these trees. If you don't know anything about these trees, we could use your help watering these trees, delivering supplies, mulching these trees. If you will please log on to our website, prattvillereleaf.com, and click on the Get Involved link, that is where you can register to volunteer. We also will need financial support. We are grateful that these trees are being given to us at wholesale cost, but if you would like to make a contribution to our fundraising, you can get in touch with us through the website to do so," continued Mrs. Byard.
Carolyn Bent, President of Diggers Delight Garden Club, presenting a check for $2,000 to Mayor Jim and Beverly Byard. This money was granted to Prattville Releaf through our local garden clubs by the National Garden Club Disaster Fund.
Carolyn Bent presented a check for $2,000 to Mayor Jim and Beverly Byard. The three garden clubs got together and each applied for a $500 grant towards the funding of Prattville ReLeaf. The National Garden Club Disaster Fund thought it was such a wonderful plan that they gave them $2,000 to go towards the project.
Our main goal is to raise money, get volunteers, and to make sure that the residents in the affected areas select their trees and return those to the City. We are excited that the garden clubs have come together with the master gardeners and that the Alabama Urban Forestry Association has chosen us as the Arbor Day event for 2009. We can also use volunteers to fix food for the other volunteers and watch children and a number of other worthy services to make this happen.
Joel Jackson, of Greenwood Growers, with Beverly Byard. The trees
between them are samples of the trees residents and business owners will receive on Arbor Day 2009.
It will take approximately $5-7,000 to pay for the trees. The City of Prattville budgeted to fund a portion of this project as well. If you have any questions, please contact the Planning Department with the City of Prattville either through the project website or at 334.361.3613.