We saw the great lake, passed great trees, and had a great ride!
Thank you to all of our riders, volunteers, staff, donors, virtual participants, and supporters! The hospitality of Michigan will not soon be forgotten.
The 2025 Tour des Trees showed all the beauty that the State of Michigan had to offer to cyclists and tree enthusiasts alike. During this year’s campaign, our riders and ride sponsors- with additional help from 16 participants that participated in our Virtual Tour des Trees, tracking their miles from the summer from home- were able to raise over $378,000 for TREE Fund!
This year’s event featured 60 riders traveling over 420 miles in five days. TREE Fund and the Tour des Trees riders were able to interact with groups all over the state and spread the word about TREE Fund, its mission, and the importance of tree research. This included five tree plantings, three professional learning events, six youth presentations from rider Warren Hoselton’s alter ego, Professor Pricklethorn, and meetings with several local groups including West Michigan Trails and various local volunteer organizations (Lions Clubs, Chambers of Commerce).
Highlights of the Week:
The week kicked off with an event at the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, with many of the riders cycling over to attend a tree planting dedication followed by an “Ask an Arborist” event that was open to the public with arborists from Bartlett Tree Experts on-hand to answer questions.
Day One: The first riding day started with an official kick-off event in Grand Rapids, planting a tree and taking a group photo in Riverside Park, with TREE Fund Board President, Rachel Barker, on-hand, along with representatives from ArborMetrics, Consumer’s Energy, the City of Grand Rapids,
and Kent County. Professor Pricklethorn also presented to his first group that day during our lunch stop in Morley. Over the course of the week, Prof. Pricklethorn presented his message of “trees please” to over 100 kids plus their parents and other community members. A handful of hardy riders also took on an extra challenge this day, cycling over to Morbark’s headquarters, where they enjoyed make-your-own s’mores and a facility tour, putting their riding miles over 100 for the day.
Day Two: The second day included a morning that will be forever remembered as the rainstorm in the church. On route to the first planned rest stop at a church in Reed City, the weather maps were showing a storm heading towards us, with possible thunder and hail. While originally only scheduled to be there for about 45 minutes for a rest stop, we asked the folks at the church if we could stay a little longer and wait out the storm, which they graciously allowed us to do, turning on their coffee machine and letting us hang around for an extra hour. Rider Matt Searels brought along his guitar, which was in one of the support trucks, and performed an impromptu concert in their multipurpose room. Later in the day, some of the riders had a chance to visit the SEEDS campus, a non-profit group that trains students towards careers in the green industry where they showed off their programs featuring composting, habitat restoration, and wood rescue, along with other projects going on relating to proper techniques in the field.
Day Three: On the third day, during the lunch stop, Trustee Asia Dowtin, also a professor at Michigan State University, gave a presentation on recruiting volunteers to help with tree care initiatives in the city, presenting to the local tree board, other local arborists, riders, and city representatives, including the town mayor.
Day Five: Friday, the final riding day, was a busy morning in Muskegon with a Prof. Pricklethorn rally at the YMCA day camp, an industry day highlighting career paths and other tools of the trade for being
a professional arborist at Muskegon Community College, where Trustees Asia Dowtin and Megan Fielding both presented to students and others from the area. The morning also included a memorial tree planting for long-time TdT volunteer Gwen Gilens. Her husband, Al, who was both a TdT rider and, for many years, the Tour photographer, drove out from Pennsylvania to help dedicate the tree. At 92 years old, Al got on his bike and rode the first 25 miles of the day, with an entourage of riders guiding him to the park, where we were met by the local Lions Club and the local coffee shop, where we then dedicated the new Coffee Tree in Gwen’s memory.
In addition to the groups we met along the way, we were also able to interact with local groups during mealtime, having group dinners at the lodges for the Manistee Elks Club and the Whitehall American Legion Post, plus breakfast at the lodge of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
We were also able to present the 2024 Ken Ottman Volunteer Award to long-time Tour des Trees
volunteer Jo Nakeff. Jo is a staple of the ride, always willing to give a hug, lend a shoulder, or talk someone up before they head on their way.
Our current Tour Director, Paul Wood of Black Bear Adventure Cycling Tours, announced in 2024 that he will be retiring after the 2026 ride, after 20+ years of leading the Tour des Trees. During this year’s ride, we announced our new Tour Director starting in 2027, long time Tour staffer, Thom Kraak.
Fundraising and Planning Thanks and Recognition:
We would not have been able to put this event together without the support of the TREE Fund’s Partners and we would especially like to recognize our Crown and Platinum Partners; Asplundh, Bartlett Tree Experts, Corteva, International Society of Arboriculture, Lewis Services, SavATree, and FirstEnergy. We would also like to give an additional special mention to the following groups for their support at this year’s ride: Vermeer and Vermeer MidWest, Indiana Arborist Association, KASK, West Coast Arborists, and Wright Service Corp. Finally, we would like to thank ISA Michigan for being such wonderful hosts and for all their help in putting together a great event.
The planning of an event like this is typically a year-long process and our planning committee took multiple hours out of their already busy schedules to help put this year’s event together and make it the best it could be. We’d like to thank the following individuals from that committee for their time and hard work: Thom Kraak, Jeff Iles, Laura Iles, Ben Rickenbacker, Don Roppolo, Cindy Schwab, Laurie Skul, Warren Hoselton, Paul Sellers, and Pete Smith. We would also like to extend a special thanks to our Michigan local representatives, who put so much work into making the route just right: Kathy Gilmour, Julie Stachecki, Alex Akemann, Bob Tarabula, and Annie Kruise. We would also like to thank our great Tour Manager, Paul Wood, for creating a beautiful and safe route.
Of course, fundraising is an important part of this event and we would like to thank all of our riders who put in so much time to help raise money this year. We would also like to recognize our top fundraisers for 2025:
Fundraising Top 10
Dick Rideout- $14,062
Christian Siewert- $10,125
Scott Jamieson- $8.855
Brian Heimstra- $8,775
David Gorden- $7,036
Steve Geist- $6,665
Lauie Skul- $6,601
Randy Miller- $6,355
Jeff Calvert- $6,263
Hallie Dozier- $6,224
Fundraising Top 10 Teams
Team Michigan Chapter- $28,500
Team Wisconsin Chapter- $26,627
Team Rocky Mountain Chapter- $20,774
Team Bartlett Tree Experts- $17,730
Team TCIA- $14,800
Team Ohio Chapter- $13,746
Team Southern Chapter- $12,891
Team Eocene- $12,440
Team ArborMetrics- $12,120
Team Indiana- $11,670