On May 12th and 13th, local, state and federal conservation partners,  board members & families, local organizations and individual volunteers came together to serve the Double El Conservation District community during the 2016 Annual Seedling Tree Day– during which, 15,000 trees were handed off to 170 district residents for conservation efforts.

Thursday, May 12th – Morning

Good Weather and light traffic meant the delivery truck of seedlings from the CSFS Nursery arrived a tad earlier than planned – alas, our local volunteer photographer was too late to capture the initial arrival of another year worth of trees for our local area.

All personnel, from those deftly wielding the forklift for delivery and removal of pallets loaded with seedling trees, to those who kept pace with forklift to put in place the stations planned by organizers for compiling orders when customers arrived the next day, were focused and diligent, yet made the day of work feel like play.

Ready to Unload the Delivery Truck into Warehouse

Weed Barrier and other survival supplies already in place for Tree Day:

300 foot rolls of Weed Barrier, waiting to be hauled home.  Previously placed/labeled by volunteers before today.

Forklift and helping hands bring stock in Thursday a.m.

Stock placed efficiently for order retrieval by NRCS employees and volunteers.

Thursday, May 12th – Afternoon

After truck unloaded, stock inventoried and placed, the detail work begins; each year, Double El strives to order in a few extras of local Proven Performers to have on hand for those who stop by.

All extras are prepared, displayed and labeled to aide in customer selection during sales:

Extra native pine seedlings for sale.

Limited Extra Bare Root Stock for Sale

Preparing Bare Root seedlings for safety until planted in their new home is a team effort:

Wood chips are soaked in water to provide moist packing material for bare root seedlings.

Many hands make for light work while prepping bare roots for transport.

May 13th – Tree Day!

Other volunteers, including Miami-Yoder JT60’s FFA Chapter, showed up on Friday to aide with Tree Day:

Miami Yoder JT60 (Rush, Colorado) FFA Chapter Members (Left to Right): Ariel Bowden, Kaylan Bowden, Terryn Price, Chris Carneal, Don Rivera, Instructor Nolan Payne.

Orders were retrieved and carried to waiting trucks, cars and trailers – in sync to customer arrival tempo –

Miami Yoder FFA and NRCS personnel work to fill multiple orders

Full Day of Customer Service

Throughout the day, customers arrived and the level of stock in warehouse decreased, as the assembled team worked to deliver orders, answer questions and provide how-to wisdom to those who picked up their orders or stopped by to browse the available extras for sale.

In between the busy times, video footage and interviews were done to tell more of the annual story – as well as having some fun:

District Manager Cheryl Churchwell and Field Technician Lori Ellefson have some fun during a break in customers and before video interview.

Double El’s Cheryl Churchwell and Miami-Yoder’s FFA Instructor Nolan Payne talk about the benefits of their partnership

Alas, we will be in the field planting living snow fences, and providing customer support for windbreak planting, advice on supporting newly planted trees, as well as seminars, workshops and boots-on-the-ground activities to support our local community – we will get the videos put up of what we did as soon as we get done with the doing…. 🙂

District Manager Cheryl Churchwell says it best:

“Yes, this is a very busy time of year for us, but it really is our favorite time of year.”