Oaks From Just Plain Folks

Bicyclists and joggers on Orange County’s upper Santa Ana River Trail are used to the scenic view of coots and stilts and sea gulls gazing at them from the water within its banks.

Saturday, they were surprised by another sight--scores of people attempting to beautify the area for them.

The team of planters put in 400 coast live oaks and California sycamores donated by the Orange County Tree Society in a two-mile stretch along the south trail between Imperial Highway and Lakeview Avenue, known as the Imperial River Trail. It’s all part of a long-term restoration project for the 29 miles of the Santa Ana River that runs through Orange County.

The tree planters were all volunteers. And, something of a surprise, many of them weren’t even from Orange County.

There was the team from Victor Valley High School, for example. They drove from Victorville, 67 miles away.

“Someone needs us, we’re there,” said Jennifer Roth, part of the school’s Interact Club.

There were also members of two Cub Scout troops, Pack 850 of Villa Park and Pack 145 of Tustin.

“How often does a youngster from Orange County get a chance to plant a tree?” said Suzanne Anderson, one of the Pack 850 leaders.

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Some volunteers made it a family affair. Like Jennifer and Brad Felix, of Anaheim Hills, who brought their daughters, Kylie, 11, Krysta, 9, and Brenna, 6.

“We wanted to teach the girls about giving back to the community,” Jennifer Felix said. “But besides that, we use the trail ourselves; we like to ride our bicycles here.”

And some came just because they love trees. Sally Walker of Costa Mesa, for example, is the daughter of a forester. “It’s a good way to spend a Saturday,” she said.

Joanne Simkins, volunteer coordinator for Harbors, Beaches and Parks, had shovels ready for the crews, and van drivers shuttled them to the site from Yorba Regional Park. Simkins said she was amazed at the turnout. Part of it was thanks to her many fliers, which billed it as a “Millennium Tree Planting.” But also, word spread fast on the Internet.

The Victorville group, 10 students and two adults, heard about it simply by calling up CommunityService.com on the Internet.

It wasn’t just the labor that was volunteered. So were the trees.

The whole idea came from the nonprofit Orange County Tree Society, which sought suggestions from many groups and agencies countywide for the $10,000 it had to spend on trees. It liked the county’s proposal for the river trail, group president Gloria Schlaepfer said, because the trail has a sprinkler system and county water trucks.

“We also wanted a place the public could enjoy,” she said.

The Tree Society also gave $2,000 worth of trees to the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge, for land it was given by the Navy, and $1,000 worth of trees to Habitat for Humanity.