Consider the local leader who founded the City of Portland’s Urban Forestry Commission.
The leader who was a big part of many of Portland’s most iconic features, from the Portland Streetcar to Lan Su Classical Chinese Garden.
The same guy who thought the Japanese American Historical Plaza in Waterfront Park would be even more powerful, if framed by great swaths of beautiful Akebono Cherry trees.
Bill's son Bob presents the 2012 Awards
Then ask yourself: This April -- Arbor Month -- what would Bill Naito do, given the chance?
The more one learns about Bill Naito, who passed in 1996, the more one understands the meaning of community. That’s why every spring since 1995, Portland’s Urban Forestry Commission has chosen one or more recipients for the Bill Naito Community Trees Award.
The first honorees were Friends of Trees founder Richard Seidman, and Portland General Electric, the company that helped fund the original Seed the Future Campaign. Later recipients include Phyllis Reynolds, the author of Trees of Greater Portland, and an English as a Second Language class from David Douglas High School who planted nearly 1,000 trees in their community.
Akebonos in bloom
Throughout his life, Bill Naito championed projects and movements that helped Portland reinvent itself for the benefit of people from many different walks of life. Just a few examples: planting 10,000 street trees; launching the Japanese American Historical Plaza, Saturday Market, and Artquake in the 1980s and early ‘90s; helping to keep alive the White Stag sign; developing the McCormick Apartments that extended the livable city boundary to the north; and leading the preservation of Union Station.
It’s a legacy that has changed the face of Portland’s urban core, not least because Bill placed trees at the core of community building.
On April 26th, the Urban Forestry Commission will recognize our 2014 Bill Naito Community Trees Awardees. Each embodies one of two aspects that made Bill so effective: big picture thinking (e.g., that if we care for trees, then trees will take care of us); and the steady dedication, seed by seed, that’s required to restore a forest.
A few of Hoyt's world record tree huggers
Congratulations to:
The 936 Portlanders -- led by arborist, Damon Schrosk who had the big idea, and hosted by Hoyt Arboretum Curator Martin Nicolson -- who this past July set the Arboretum's Guinness world record Tree Hug; and
Phil Hamilton, an extraordinary individual who has dedicated over 21,000 hours of service to documenting and restoring the forest of Tryon Creek State Natural Area. Almost any Saturday, you can find Phil at Tryon and work shoulder-to-shoulder with him to restore this remarkable state park within the boundaries of two cities.
Why not join us for the celebration? It’s what Bill would do.