Greetings Fellow OWIT’s and Friends
Happy Spring! Although it is nice to get the moisture and the snowpack of winter, it is always great when the sun shines down on us with the warmth of Spring.
We are busy in Eastern Oregon getting ready for our annual Ag-Timber parade. Come honor these two amazing industries that help keep this area a viable place to live and raise your family! This year features family fun games and activities at Beeman Park in Island City prior to the parade. We will have a roping contest, hoop shoot, Talk About Trees activity table and other educational and fun activities for the kids. We will have several vendors on hand selling food items and Pepsi and Coke will both be there, giving away free products as well. Activities in the park begin Friday, May 16th at 6:00 pm, parade line up at 6:30 pm and the parade will kick off at 8:00 pm. Our Grand Marshal is Jamie Knight, an area forester with Oregon State Forestry.
This past weekend we had a Talk About Trees committee meeting to discuss TAT’s involvement at the Pacific Logging Congress, September 25-27, 2014. The conference will be held at the Port Blakely Tree Farm in Molalla, Oregon. It is fortunate to have this great event so close to us. There will be a live in-the-woods show Thursday, Sept 25 and Friday, Sept 26 from 8 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 8 am to 1 pm. Our Talk About Trees facilitators will be on hand to help with the school tours planned for Thursday and Friday. If you get an opportunity to attend, this would be an event worth going to! (More detailed information is provided later in the newsletter).
If you haven’t already done so, I would encourage you to join the Healthy Forest, Healthy Communities Coalition. It is a great way to get information on the most current issues in our state and country. It also provides a great way to make sure your voice is heard on “call to action” items.
Respectfully, Melissa Fullerton, OWIT president