This post is one in a series about California ReLeaf board and staff members’ favorite trees. Today, we hear from California ReLeaf’s Grants Manager, Chuck Mills.
Ninety minutes before I was scheduled to attend my first Arbor Week event as a staff member for California ReLeaf, my 21-year old Calico named Taffy passed away. Though I had sufficient cause for skipping the event (excessive salt water jeopardizing soil integrity in new plantings), I sat with my wife for one hour, then attended the ceremony for obvious reasons of giving life to something after losing one so precious.
When Ray Tretheway at Sacramento Tree Foundation started encouraging volunteers to plant their trees in dedication of someone or something, I ditched the suit jacket, rolled up my sleeves, and grabbed a shovel.
This is the tree planted that day in memory of Taffy (1990-2011).