Minnesota and Iowa Have Been Planted!

Aloha from Knoxville, Iowa!

We’re writing this from a table at the Peace Tree Brewing Company in downtown Knoxville, which is the county seat of Marion County, Iowa. Yesterday’s planting here was a huge success, and included about 45 citizens of all ages from this lovely small town outside of Des Moines.

Megan McKay Ziller, one of the owners of the brewery, along with Dr. Bob Leonard, an anthropologist living in Knoxville, really got the community to come together over the planting of a red maple tree at the eastern entrance to the town. Everyone wrote down wishes for under the tree, and we had several community leaders speak to the group during the planting. We got really great footage and are still shooting some more today before we leave for Omaha. The winners of the “Big Trees of Marion County” contest were announced, and we were treated to some really great folk music from a husband-wife duo called Thankful Dirt. We’re going to head out to the tree that won the contest in about an hour and are hoping for some great footage of that spot. For a photo of the tree and more information about the tree planting we did for Iowa, click here.

Wednesday’s planting in Minneapolis, Minnesota was also a great success. With the help of Tree Trust, the Midtown Greenway Coalition, and Hennepin County Railroad

Authority, we were able to plant 18 native trees, including a Swamp White Oak that is the official “Plant a Wish” tree. These organizations are doing really wonderful work for the people of Minneapolis. A nice group of folks came out for the event, many of them regular volunteers with Tree Trust, and we spent the afternoon getting our hands dirty and learning about the great work being done to bring the Midtown Greenway (a very popular bike path) to its ultimate glory as a fully restored landscape. Minneapolis is known to be the #1 place in the country for bicycling, so this Greenway is a really big deal in the city.

Special thanks to Karen Zumach from Tree Trust for taking us on a tour of the length of the 5 mile greenway, and for sharing her widsom as a horticulturalist. For a photo of the tree, and more details about the tree planting we did in Minnesota, click here.

We’re getting ready to head to Omaha, where we’ll be connecting with the Malcolm X Foundation to plant a tree at the birthplace of Malcolm X.

In the meantime, check out our Flickr photo gallery, with all of the photos from our trip to date. Click here to check that out.

Stay tuned, this is bound to be a great weekend for Plant a Wish!