RUSTON RETREET
February 7th-9th, 2020
February 7th-9th, 2020
Through nearly a decade of excellence in the field, RETREET has become the national authority in post-disaster community-based tree planting. Our presence and reputation has grown to the extent that, when searching for help online or through industry contacts, impacted communities quickly come across our unique mission and the diverse community who have rallied to our cause. We are well on our way to redefining disaster relief.
On April 25th, 2019, an EF3 tornado ripped a path of destruction though Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, taking 2 lives and leaving an estimated $9.1 million in damage. Less than 2 weeks later, we received an email from Sarah Warren, a member of the Ruston Planning and Zoning Commission, asking for our assistance in addressing the incredible loss of trees in her community. Following a phone call with Sarah and John Waltz, the City Planner for Ruston, wheels began to turn to bring Ruston RETREET into being.
MEETING WITH COMMUNITY LEADERS IN RUSTON
Our first point of outreach was to Keep Lincoln Parish Beautiful, who submitted a grant application to the Community Restoration and Resiliency Fund, established and managed by our national partner Keep America Beautiful. We also contacted The Home Depot Foundation, another longtime partner, in coordination with their main store in Shreveport. Not only did we hope to gain financial support from these institutions, we also aimed to gather volunteers and make additional contacts who would empower Ruston RETREET.
Following a number of email conversations with representatives from City of Ruston and Louisiana Tech University, we chose a date in July to visit to Lincoln Parish in order to meet local community leaders, discuss the needs of the event, and ask for their assistance.
During our visit, representatives from Lincoln Parish Fund: a fund of Community Foundation of North Louisiana offered to support Ruston RETREET with a $35,000 contribution, an amount made up of donations large and small that had been collected throughout the surrounding community for disaster relief work. City of Ruston offered trucks and trailers to deliver trees and supplies to home sites and reserved the Ruston Civic Center for the celebratory dinner that would follow planting day. Weyerhaeuser kicked in an additional $5,000 for the project and promised volunteers to help RETREETers and city crews with the deliveries.
Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce asked if RETREET would like to serve as grand marshal of the annual Christmas Parade. Known to draw huge crowds in Ruston, the parade would be an excellent opportunity for us to spread the word about the planting.
MARSHALLING THE RUSTON-LINCOLN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CHRISTMAS PARADE
A small group of RETREETers traveled to Ruston to participate in the parade on December 14th, 2019. With an amazing new wrap job on our tool trailer, prime placement in the lineup, and a boisterous moose in the bed of our truck, the RETREET rig drew plenty of attention. RETREETers handed out 1,000 flyers and a mountain of candy to the excited residents. CLICK HERE to see a video of us marshaling the parade.
Our awareness campaign continued, as Mayor Ronny Walker sent out regular alerts on social media, City of Ruston posted the tree request page on their website, and a direct mailer was sent to the owners of all 415 homes that were designated as affected by the tornado by the Louisiana National Guard.
By mid-January, over 80 requests for trees had been received. When mapped, the requests eerily matched the path of the tornado.
A MAP OF PLANTING REQUESTS SHOWS THE PATH OF THE TORNADO
The credo of RETREET is to plant the right tree in the right place the right way at the right time. Our process focuses on maximizing these elements above all else.
An approved tree species list was provided by the forester for City of Ruston, and 180 native 15-gallon trees—including Shumard Oak, Red Maple, Pecan, and Eastern Redbud—were reserved at Tree Town USA, a steady source of quality trees that has been one of RETREET’s sponsors since the very beginning. Our staff reached out to families who had submitted requests to ensure that they, and their property, were ready to receive and care for trees. Professors at Louisiana Tech University began engaging forestry and agriculture students to work alongside local arborists and landscape architects as members of Team Locate, who selected planting locations following the marking of utilities.
MEMBERS OF LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENTS SERVE ON TEAM LOCATE
RETREETers began to arrive in Ruston on Thursday, February 6th, 2020, and settled into a grouping of AirBnb residences directly across the street from the Ruston Civic Center. That first night, they visited the grocery store, sorted supplies for headquarters, the plantings, and the celebratory event, and sampled the local nightlife.
THE ADVANCE PARTY OF RETREETERS ENJOYS GAME OF POOL AT A LOCAL HANGOUT
The following morning, the RETREETers were pleasantly surprised by City of Ruston and over 50 local volunteers, mostly from Weyerhaeuser, who were waiting for them at Argent Pavilion on the Louisiana Tech University campus to help deliver trees and supplies to home sites. With so much assistance, the runs were all completed in a record 2.5 hours.
Thankfully, the RETREETers had plenty of time to enjoy the sights and sounds of Ruston before heading to the welcome dinner at Ponchatoulas.
VOLUNTEERS FROM WEYERHAEUSER JOIN RETREETERS AND CITY STAFF TO DELIVER TREES AND SUPPLIES
On Saturday, February 8th, 2020, 152 volunteers gathered at Argent Pavilion to plant 171 native trees at 60 homes across Lincoln Parish. The group included athletes from Louisiana Tech University, Boy Scouts, Weyerhaeuser staff, Lowes Home Improvement employees, representatives from numerous Keep America Beautiful affiliates, and RETREETers from all across the country. It truly was an amazing display of community engagement.
152 VOLUNTEERS GATHERED TO PLANT TREES IN RUSTON, LA, ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH, 2020
Following an introduction from our executive director, Grady McGahan, Mayor Ronny Walker oriented the crowd to the realities of the tornado and the relief and recovery process that followed. After that, Lucius McGehee Jr, the vice chair of Lincoln Parish Fund, and Helen Lowman, the president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful explained the importance of our work and the reasons their organizations were moved to provide support.
The crowd was shown proper tree planting methods through an onsite demonstration, and then well-balanced small groups were formed who spent the rest of the afternoon visiting home sites and planting trees for expectant families.
A FAMILY IN LINCOLN PARISH RECEIVES A NEW TREE
That evening, volunteers, partners, and residents alike joined together at Ruston Civic Center for A Celebration of Community. The free event, sponsored by Tito’s Handmade Vodka, featured elevated cuisine, tasty cocktails, and jamming live music. Chef Justin Box, who traveled from Dallas, joined forces with local chef Desi Bourgeois of Grown and Grazed. Their collaboration, aided by the help of a few key volunteers, resulted in one of the most delicious feasts we ever have presented on RETREET. Ducado VeGA & Zenya brought down the house and elicited some choice dance moves from the crowd.
In addition to the sponsorship of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Lush Cosmetics and Marsala Beverage provided product for attendees to enjoy.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS FROM LINCOLN PARISH GATHER FOR DINNER AT RUSTON CIVIC CENTER
Before heading out of town the next day, the RETREETers stopped at Argent Financial to plant a few more trees at a high visibility intersection, in thanks to those who contacted us and enabled our program to be brought to the aid of Lincoln Parish. Through their partnership and support, and following receipt of the grant from The Home Depot Foundation, we plan to return to Ruston this fall for a second round of planting.
RETREETERS PLANT A FEW MORE TREES BEFORE DEPARTING LINCOLN PARISH