Category: Uncategorized

Posted on by

Christmas Tree Lane Walk Nights

Christmas Tree Lane Walk Nights

The Christmas Tree Lane Walk Nights will take place on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 and Tuesday, December 8, 2015 from 6 to 10 PM.

Tree Fresno provides a Shuttle Express service which can be boarded at two locations:

  • North Station: Palm Avenue at San Ramon Avenue, near Shaw Avenue and the Fig Garden Village Shopping Center
  • South Station: Van Ness Avenue at Andrews Avenue, near Shields Avenue and Gazebo Gardens
Most people park at the Fig Garden Financial Center at 5250 N. Palm Avenue – with two options:
  • Board the Shuttle Express at the North Station, ride down to the South Station, and stroll up the Lane to the Fig Garden Village Shopping Center
  • Walk down Palm and cross Shaw, stroll down the Lane (Van Ness), board the Shuttle Express at the South Station, and ride up to the North Station at the Fig Garden Financial Center.

The first bus leaves the North Station at 5:45 PM and the last bus leaves at 9:30 PM.

Tickets cost $7 per person. Children ride free when seated on an adult’s lap. Tickets may be purchased at Whole Foods Market, on line at Eventbrite or on site during each Walk Night.

Call 221-5556 to group reservations. Tickets are non-refundable.

Bonus! You get a coupon for a free Habit Hamburger for each ticket purchased at Whole Foods.

Sponsors: Fenston Apiaries, Whole Foods, Habit Hamburger, Soft Rock 98.9 and ABC30.

Posted on by

Lowell Elementary girls help bring green to Fresno’s Dickey Playground

Lowell Elementary girls help bring green to Fresno’s Dickey Playground
By George Hostetter The Fresno Bee
November 22, 2013

A corner of Dickey Playground in downtown Fresno is getting a green makeover.

Members of the Girl Power Club at nearby Lowell Elementary School and Mayor Ashley Swearengin teamed up Friday to plant a young tree at Dickey Playground.

The Aristocrat Pear is one of about 10 trees slated to go onto the site of a barracks-like building that was never eye-catching and struggled over the decades to adequately serve the neighborhood.

The building became irrelevant when the city five years ago built the $1.5 million Dickey Youth Center on Divisadero Street, a block from the playground’s basketball courts. The old building was razed and a slice of green space is about to emerge.

Grass will soon accompany the trees.

“It’s another sign of life in the Lowell neighborhood,” Swearengin said.

The mayor, City Manager Bruce Rudd and members of Tree Fresno provided moral support and green-thumb expertise as the fifth- and sixth-graders wrestled the tree into a hole. The girls were quick learners, deftly extricating the Aristocrat Pear from its plastic bucket.

“We saw some girl-power action,” Swearengin said.

Dickey — one of Fresno’s historic playgrounds — has seen quite a transformation in recent years. First the youth center, then a splash park, now a tiny urban forest.

The mayor stayed for one tree-planting, then headed back to City Hall. The stalwarts of Lowell’s Girl Power Club grabbed shovels and continued the work.

The reporter can be reached at (559) 441-6272 or ghostetter@fresnobee.com.

Read it in the Bee at http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/11/22/3625913/lowell-elementary-girls-help-bring.html 

Posted on by

Valley air officials aim to cool down decades-old smog problem

Hot cities are ‘heat islands’ that contribute to ozone

By Mark Grossi — The Fresno Bee

In sweltering September 2011, Fresno could have used more trees. Temperatures climbed, winds died and lung-searing ozone spiked the season’s highest readings on three days.

Worse yet, all three peaks broke the one-hour federal ozone standard between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays when children were outside after school.

An extensive canopy of trees over streets, parking lots and driveways might have kept ozone-cooking heat down just enough to avert those dangerous peaks, say researchers. Plus, trees actually take pollutants out of the air.

It’s time to talk seriously about using trees and other city-cooling ideas, such as reflective or cool roofs, to end the San Joaquin Valley’s decades-long quest to achieve the federal one-hour ozone standard, say air-quality leaders.

These days, only a few parts per billion of ozone on a few days a year separate the Valley from the achievement…

…”Fresno needs to turn greener with trees,” says Lee Ayers, executive director of Tree Fresno. His organization is pushing to make trees a priority in the city.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that we all would benefit from more trees,” he said. “It’s not just a matter of planting new trees. We need to replace trees that have died and retain mature trees in this city.”

Read Entire Article

Posted on by

The Oak Tree

The Oak Tree

by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr

A mighty wind blew night and day
It stole the oak tree’s leaves away
Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground
While other trees fell all around
The weary wind gave up and spoke.
How can you still be standing Oak?

The oak tree said, I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two
Carry every leaf away
Shake my limbs, and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth
Growing stronger since my birth
You’ll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn’t sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I’ve found, with thanks to you
I’m stronger than I ever knew

Posted on by

Mighty Oak

Mighty Oak
By Kathy J Parenteau

Stand tall oh mighty oak, for all the world to see,
your strength and undying beauty forever amazes me.
Though storm clouds hover above you,
your branches span the sky,
in search of the radiant sunlight you
count on to survive.
When the winds are high and restless and
you lose a limb or two,
it only makes you stronger, we
could learn so much from you.
Though generations have come and gone
and brought about such change,
quietly you’ve watched them all yet still
remained the same.
I only pray God give to me the strength he’s
given you,
to face each day with hope, whether
skies are black or blue,
Life on earth is truly a gift
every moment we must treasure,
it’s the simple things we take for granted
that become our ultimate pleasures.