The brisk weather the morning of Saturday, Oct. 15, was doing nothing to change the smile on the face of Stephanie Wright, Flossmoor’s program and event coordinator. She was warmed — at least figuratively — by approximately 250 volunteers who turned out to plant in excess of 300 trees around town.
“I feel like our village really shines its brightest when we work together over a shared task,” Wright said. “Seeing everybody out here today in all of the different neighborhoods in the village of Flossmoor along the Hidden Gem route working together is the real definition of community.”
Melissa Custic (left), operations manager for Chicago Region Tree Initiative, and Varak Bosnoian, stewardship coordinator with The Morton Arboretum, plant a tree along Heather Hill Crescent during Flossmoor’s Plant the Gem the morning of Saturday, Oct. 15. (Bill Jones/H-F Chronicle)
The Plant the Gem effort, which took place from 7 to 11 a.m. that Saturday, was one of the largest single-day, volunteer-led tree plantings in the state, according to the village. Local residents and organizations took to the parkways along the 13.1-mile route of the annual Hidden Gem Half Marathon with shovels, hand pruners, utility knives and more to get their hands dirty in the interest of beautifying Flossmoor and expanding the tree canopy.
“It’s very humbling and it’s a huge honor that people would spend their Saturday morning to come out and help the community and do some real good that will last for generations to come,” Mayor Michelle Nelson said. “When I think about the long-term impact of it, it’s really cool. This is a special moment for Flossmoor.”
The effort was made possible by $30,000 in federal grant money awarded by the Chicago Region Tree Initiative and The Morton Arboretum.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to receive the CRTI grant,” Nelson said. “Disappearing tree canopies are an issue. For the past year and a half, Flossmoor has been planting more trees than we’ve had to remove. This year, we’ve doubled the number of trees that we’ve planted. It’s an incredible opportunity to give back and provide for future generations of residents.”
And it is not just about volume. Tristan Shaw and Stephanie Connor, of Possibility Place Nursery, noted 12 tree species were planted on Oct. 15, including catalpa, magnolia, sycamore, birch and three kinds of oak. The catalpas, in particular, were one of the least-common trees in Flossmoor before Saturday, according to Amy Kent, Flossmoor’s communications manager. But it is a fast-growing species that will add to the tree canopy quickly.
“It’s all about diversifying the different trees we have here,” Kent said.
Plant the Gem saw a wide range of groups step up to help put those trees in the ground. Members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s Lambda Tau Omega chapter out of Matteson and its associated Soaring Scholars teen mentorship program planted in the Flossmoor Hills/Highlands neighborhood. According to Committee Chairperson Meonii Bristol, one of the sorority’s missions is to bring more awareness to environmental issues, in part by planting trees.
“This was hand in hand with exactly what one of our goals is,” Bristol said of the event.
Joni Bradley-Scott, a member of the sorority as well as a village trustee, said Saturday morning marked the first time she planted a tree. She called the event a great opportunity to learn while creating a legacy for the community.
“It’s our responsibility to be out here to preserve our neighborhood first and the planet,” Bradley-Scott said. “It’s a great opportunity to leave something beautiful. We’re just really appreciative of all the volunteers who came out and the organizations that made these donations to make this possible.”
Sorority member Laurie Flowers said she has lived in Flossmoor for more than two decades.
“One of the reasons I love this area so much is the trees,” she said. “So planting them and establishing new trees is going to make the neighborhood more beautiful for generations to come.”
Among the younger generations playing an active role in beautifying their community were Homewood-Flossmoor High School students Joshua Fajardo, Fawwaz Abayomi and Nicolas Haywood. Over at Leavitt Avenue Park, they said they were getting a lot of work done, realizing why it takes such a big group to do it and having fun naming the trees they planted.
“It means a lot helping out the community,” said Abayomi, a member of the school’s soccer team. “It also sets an example for younger guys to come up knowing community service isn’t a punishment; it’s something we can all chip in to do.”
Christina Lutz, of Flossmoor, brought her children to Leavitt Avenue Park to help plant their neighborhood park. Lutz planned to take photos of them with the trees Saturday and every year after the planting.
“We thought it would be really cool to see the trees grow as the kids grow,” Lutz said.
Amie Day similarly brought her children to the park to help with Plant the Gem. They were all excited to be out with their friends and found a sense of ownership in an area that will be like “their little tree garden,” Day said.
“I’m a big lover of this community and a big lover of beautifying it and also just adding to a positive environment,” Day said. “And it’s just great to see the kids out here getting their hands dirty. This is our neighborhood park. The more beauty we can add to it the better.”
The Rev. Derrick Roberts, of Flossmoor’s Restoration of Faith Church, joined parishioners Richmond White and Melvin Cryer in planting trees along Flossmoor Road. Roberts said he has lived in Flossmoor for 22 years and has raised a family in town.
“I just love being involved in the community wherever we can serve,” he said. “That’s our goal is to make sure we’re effective in the community.”
White said it was his first time planting a tree, but he was having fun doing it.
“I wanted to get more involved in community activities,” he said. “I figured this would be a great place to start.”
The Hidden Gem was created with the goal of exposing more people to Flossmoor and its neighborhoods. And Maggie Bachus, a Flossmoor resident who handles community engagement for the race, said Plant the Gem was similarly great for bringing people together and getting to know their community through service.
“It’s actually wonderful — different generations of people, it’s huge for us,” Bachus said.
Of course, the work does not end with Plant the Gem, as there are now hundreds of young trees in the soil around Flossmoor. But Connor said the hope is that the community’s involvement with the planting will leave them invested in taking care of the trees they want to see grow.
“It is going to take a lot of people to take care of these trees,” Shaw added. “We need residents and volunteers to help take care of these trees, so we’re developing a whole program to do that.”