A few months ago, a state-wide Arbor Day poster contest packet came in the mail. Our boy who fell into the grade category knew right away that he was going to toss his hat into the ring and see what happened.
He took this contest very seriously, pouring over books, researching tree paintings, doing several studies using different media, getting imput and assistance from our artist friend, then, he took a deep breath and gave it his best shot. He was proud of the work he sent off, which, in the end, was inspired by a Georgia O'keefe painting and an illustration from the book, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark.
Then, he waited.
And waited.
He checked the Project Learning Tree website daily after the deadline came and went, hoping to see the contest winner announcement.
Nothing.
Days passed.
Still, nothing.
Then, about three weeks later, a phone call came from Laramie. It was the state-wide poster contest coordinator, and she wanted to speak with our boy! His eyes popped and sparkled when he heard that his painting had come in second place out of 500 entries!
She said a ceremony would be arranged in our town in celebration of his win, with our local Forestry Division personnel and our mayor attending, and that a tree would be planted in our town park in his honor!
Wow. Really?
As you can imagine, our house exploded with shrieks, hugs, high-fives, and the kind of grinning that makes your cheeks ache. This was our boy!
So, on a sunny May 17th, a group gathered at the town park where our ten-year-old guy was presented with his framed poster, a plaque, a certificate, money, and his very own burr oak, which he helped plant near the historic bell tower. He gave a speech. We nearly cried. The newspaper reporter snapped his picture. People smiled.
Then someone said, "You know, the cool thing will be when his kids get to climb in his tree."
Oh, my. Yes!
Wishing you the loveliest of weekends, friends!
