STIHL Tour des Trees on target to break records (again): Summer 2012
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As excitement builds for the 2012 STIHL Tour des Trees’ Oregon ride, the celebration is expected to extend beyond the Tour’s 20th Anniversary to include yet another record-breaking fundraising year and an unprecedented number of arboriculture education opportunities for Oregon’s youngsters.
The 2012 Tour established itself as a benchmark ride in April, when registration for the ride sold out weeks ahead of the deadline. 109 full- and part-time riders are committed to the Oregon Tour. They’re training for hills, wind and more hills, and shaking the trees for donations to support their fundraising commitments. A record number of fundraising teams supported by ISA Chapters, corporate sponsors and families, have joined with individual riders in a common purpose: to lay waste to last year’s $512,265 fundraising record. They’re on target, and you can help by supporting a rider or team with a tax-deductible donation at www.stihltourdestrees.org.
Professor Elwood Pricklethorn (“Arborifessor Extraordinaire”) headlines the Tour’s educational programming again this year. Warren Hoselton, Toronto arborist and veteran of nine Tours des Trees, will trade his bike for a lab coat and a bad wig to demystify photosynthesis for Oregon’s youngsters and engage them in caring about and for the trees in their hometowns. The Professor is scheduled for six appearances during the Oregon Tour, including a program for the young patients at Randall Children’s Hospital in 
Portland and another at the ISA Arbor Fair in Laurelhurst Park August 11. Audience members at the Professor’s programs will take home a copy of Bonnie Worth’s “I Can Name 50 Trees Today!” courtesy of the TREE Fund, the Tour and Bartlett Tree Experts, Educational Programming Sponsor for the Tour. Additional copies of the book were donated to 100 libraries located in proximity to the Tour’s 2012 itinerary.
The Oregon Tour concludes August 11 with a 1-day Ride for Research (R4R), a 25-mile recreational ride through Portland
which is open to the public. Online registration for the R4R is open until August 10 at www.stihltourdestrees.org.
Cyclists won’t need a fancy bike to enjoy the R4R, but helmets are required for all participants. The $50 registration fee includes a T-shirt, lunch and rider goodie bag, and no fundraising is required.
The STIHL Tour des Trees is the mainstay of the TREE Fund’s research and education budget. Your support in the form of a tax-deductible donation to a rider or participation in the Ride for Research directly affects the amount of money available for arboriculture research and education. Every dollar raised by the Tour benefits the tree care industry directly. Please support your favorite Tour rider with a generous donation, or sign up to ride 25 miles with the Tour at the Ride for Research. Thank you!