VENTURA : Couple Plants Trees at Park as Memorial

At a high point of land in Grant Park with a view of the entire Ventura coastline, Jo Ellen Lay and her husband, Gary, planted trees.

The couple have volunteered to care for the picnic site where they’ve planted 25 trees, each one in memory of a deceased relative.

“When we planted the first trees, we came out here with all the family--our son and daughters and five grandchildren--and dropped notes into the ground in memory of their great-grandmother who had died,” Jo Ellen Lay said.

Since planting those trees in April, the Lays have carried water twice a week to the saplings. Thursday, they planted 22 more trees and plan on carrying water up to the site until the young pines can survive on their own. The Lays said they hope that when the trees are big enough to provide shade, the city will build benches nearby.

“What better way to remember a loved one,” Lay said. “It would be wonderful if other people could take the idea. The park needs the volunteers, and the trees would make the world a nicer place.”