Summer 2011 TREE Fund Report: Riding for Research: STIHL Tour des Trees Heading to Virginia
Return to Table of Contents – Summer 2011 TREE Fund Report
The 2011 STIHL Tour des Trees “VA2DC Tour” will roll through Virginia on its way to Washington DC this October, promising a week of cycling, spectacular autumn scenery, education events and fun in the company of the “Family TREE”.
VA2DC cyclists will plant 16 “legacy” trees this fall and visit the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, Colonial Williamsburg, the state capital at Richmond,Monticello, Blandy Experimental Farm, Harpers Ferry and two elementary schools. The Shenandoah Valley’s Skyline Drive rewards the route’s most challenging cycling with its most beautiful scenery, and the Tour concludes October 8 at American University in Washington DC, one of three registered arboreta on the itinerary.
Every full-Tour cyclist commits to raising a minimum of $3,500 for the TREE Fund, and this year’s campaign goal is $500,000. Please support their efforts with a donation to the Tour cyclist or team of your choice. Visit www.stihltourdestrees.org to register to ride or make a donation to support the 2011 fundraising campaign.
The TREE Fund is pleased to welcome Professor Elwood Pricklethorn (aka veteran Tour rider Warren Hoselton) to the VA2DC Tour. Professor Pricklethorn’s entertaining and educational programs on trees and photosynthesis are well known in his hometown of Toronto, Canada and are sure to have the school kids of Virginia looking at trees in a different light after October. With the support of the Canadian TREE Fund and Bartlett Tree Experts the Professor will visit New Kent and Columbia Elementary Schools, the Virginia State Arboretum and Rust Library in Leesburg to share his passion for trees with the next generation of urban tree stewards.
The VA2DC Tour’s educational programming also includes donations of copies of Bonnie Worth’s “I Can Name 50 Trees Today!” a Cat in the Hat Learning Library book crammed with kid-friendly scientific information about trees. With the support of Bartlett Tree Experts the TREE Fund will donate books to the schools on the Tour’s itinerary and the kids attending daily TREEvents and the Virginia Arboretum program, as well as the library in Leesburg and 42 other public libraries situated near the 2011 route. Find a map of the Tour, a daily itinerary and updated information at www.stihltourdestrees.org.
The 2011 STIHL Tour des Trees opens with a 1-day recreational Ride for Research (R4R) in Virginia Beach October 2. The 30-mile R4R launches from the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center at 9 a.m. and cycles through Virginia Beach, stopping to plant trees at First Landing State Park and STIHL’s production facility before returning to the Aquarium at noon for lunch and closing ceremonies. The $75 registration fee includes a T-shirt, lunch and admission for the day to the Aquarium, plus a tax-deductible donation to the TREE Fund. Download a registration form at www.stihltourdestrees.org and register by August 25 for a guaranteed T-shirt.
