Trinity Pierce (left) was one of three guides at a Tree Stroll in Oak Park on Sunday, Oct. 22. Photos by Cassandra West.
By Laurie Casey
Sunday October 22, a sunny, mild day with fall leaf color in full splendor. About 62 people—mostly from Oak Park, but a few from Chicago neighborhoods Austin and Pullman—came to central Oak Park for the Fall Tree Stroll. We soaked up the glorious fall color, got to know our giant, gracious green neighbors a little better.
D-I-Y Tree Stroll: the Basics
Interested in organizing a tree stroll in your own neighborhood? Any time of year is perfect. . . we had our first one in the spring, as the leaves were just budding out. Even winter has things to teach us about trees, including their bark, branching and shape.
We had two groups of 30 led by three dynamic naturalists: Trinity Pierce, the Stewardship Manager of Chicago Region Trees Initiative and an ISA Certified Arborist; Adrian Ayres Fisher, a board member of West Cook Wild Ones and a site steward for National Grove Woods, a Cook County Forest Preserve; and Theresa Radke, Volunteer Program Specialist with the Cook County Forest Preserves.
You can find an expert to lead your walk by contacting the outreach department of your local forest preserve, your local Wild Ones chapter, a nearby botanical garden or arboretum, or forestry department at a regional university or college.
We provide thick crayons and paper to do bark rubbings—it’s a fun activity for people of all ages, especially young children.
Be sure to promote your tree walk widely—on social media, via email to friends and neighbors, and through other channels. If you are not charging a fee for your event, expect half the registrants to attend. . . so if you have capacity for 30, aim to get 60 registrants. Be sure to let your local high schools know—half our attendees came from the high school, where two science teachers offered extra credit to attend our tree stroll. Reach out to houses of worship, chambers of commerce and other groups as well.
We use google forms to create a sign up sheet, including a required line for email. We send out two reminders, one a few days before, and one the evening before or the morning of the event.
We also offer incentives for walking, biking, taking public transportation or rolling to the event, such as a raffle prize or other freebies.
At our Fall Tree Stroll, attendees took home 30 trees for planting (donated by the Chicago Regional Trees Initiative), signing a note of adoption to pledge to care for the tree. We also raffled off the digital artwork, "Go Hug a Tree" by local artist Imani @Theepitohme, a young artist based in Austin. Kim K. from the Pullman neighborhood was the big winner.
