PORT TOWNSEND — The artist commissioned to design this year’s Plant-A-Thon tree cards, which raise money for schools involved in the Northwest Watershed Institute project, worked from experience.
Port Townsend artist Lucy Congdon-Hanson had planted trees along a salmon habitat restoration site near Tarboo Creek, working with her husband and young daughters, before she created “Tarboo,” which graces this year’s tree cards, now on sale.
“The memory of those cold January mornings when our lovely children are bundled in layers head to toe speaks volumes about team membership and community commitment,” Congdon-Hanson said.
Largest fundraising/service project
Plant-A-Thon is the largest fundraising/environmental service project in Jefferson County, said Jude Rubin, stewardship director of the Port Townsend-based Northwest Watershed Institute and coordinator of the annual tree-planting effort.
In January, 150 schoolchildren and parents from five local schools will plant 2,500 native trees in Tarboo Valley, near Dabob Road in Quilcene, she said.
That will bring the total planted in the valley since 2005 to 25,500 trees, Rubin said.
The project is part of a larger effort to restore and protect the Tarboo watershed.
Plant-A-Thon symbols
“Tarboo” features symbols of the Plant-A-Thon, with images of native salmon, a conifer seedling, a compass rose and a child’s yellow-raincoat-clad arms.
“We were incredibly fortunate that Lucy agreed to do the artwork this year,” Rubin said. “She captured the essence of what this project represents in her own powerful and unique style.”
Congdon-Hanson said the piece was painted “directly on a slab of Doug fir milled over a hundred years ago in Neah Bay.”
The Plant-A-Thon “for me . . . represents planting our future, literally,” the artist said.
“Our midwinter commitment is to the health of our living landscape as well as the excellence in education for our children,” she added. “Both are growing and require our utmost attention.
“While every child is a gift unfolding, requiring love, understanding and guidance, so, too, our living environment deserves our loving care.”
Each card represents a tree
For each tree they plant, students sell a corresponding tree card for $5 to family and friends.
The person who buys it in turn sends it to honor someone special.
The cards have been sent as far as Africa, China and Indonesia.
People use them as holiday greetings, to recognize births, deaths, birthdays and special occasions, Rubin said.
Businesses send tree cards to clients, she said. Suitors send them as Valentines, she added.
The tree cards are now available through participating schools.
These include Swan School, Chimacum Pi Program, Sunfield, Quilcene Primary and Jefferson Community School.
Through card sales and business sponsorships, students and parents hope to raise more than $17,000 for school budgets.
To purchase cards from any or all of the schools, visit www.swanschool.net.
Cards also can be purchased from students and parents in participating schools or by phoning any of these school representatives:
■ Swan School — Betsy Carlson, 360-385-7340.
■ Jefferson Community School — Susan O’Brien, 360-531-1795.
■ Chimacum Pi Program — Kit Pennell, 360-732-4219 (ask for Pi Program).
■ Sunfield Waldorf School — Michele Meyering, 360-385-3658.
■ Quilcene Elementary — Eric Jorgensen or staff, 360-765-3363.
Grants to the Northwest Watershed Institute pay for tree seedlings and materials, so schools keep 100 percent of profits they earn selling cards and soliciting business donations.
In 2010, painter Max Grover donated the original version of his tree card painting for auction, which generated enough to fund Richard Jesse Watson’s commission last year, “Sharing the Journey.”
Donated original
“This year, Congdon-Hanson will continue the generous tradition by donating the original ‘Tarboo’ for a February auction to benefit the Plant-A-Thon,” Rubin said.
Interested collectors can email jude@nwwatershed.org for auction details.
The Northwest Watershed Institute is a nonprofit environmental organization founded in 2001 to provide scientific and technical support for protecting and restoring fish and wildlife habitats and watershed ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest.
It works with willing landowners and other organizations.
The Tarboo Creek watershed project is in conjunction with 30 agencies.
