Project Make [it] count: Greater Michigan

Planting trees on Belle Isle in downtown Detroit, which was severely impacted by Dutch elm disease and the emerald ash borer

My name is Mary Reinbold and I live in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. I have been with the firm for 34 years and am the Greater Michigan Market EA and Team Assistant Manager. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Jerry, for 27 years and we have two little kitties, Pickle and Pinch. We had to have our 50-year old birch tree removed from our front yard in September 2007 and planted a new Red Maple in October, 2007.

October 30

Received a Congratulations notice that I was randomly selected to represent the Greater Michigan Market on Project Make [it]. I was working in the New York office at the time. I immediately put it out of my mind and didn't respond by the deadline.

November 3

I really did not have a good understanding of what this "project" was or how I became involved but I listened and agreed to the challenge. At that point, real concern set in…I don't have the time, I don't know where to take this, everyone's busy so I might not get any support, yada yada yada.

I ended up speaking with our Geographic Marketing Leader, John Monaco. He threw around a couple of ideas but I quickly landed on the environment as I was on the project team for the firm's Green Pilot initiative that involved Detroit, Los Angeles and Tyson's Corner.

My idea is to contribute to the greening of Detroit by planting trees on Belle Isle. I will be making a difference in the community while caring for our environment and sustaining the quality of life for future generations.

November 5

Worried that I would not be able to pull this off.

November 7

I listened to the LiveMeeting Webcast today and then started to question my submission - was my submission original enough, grand enough, impactful enough, the deadline is too tight (3 weeks, are you kidding me?), too many PFFs to do, upcoming trip back to New York, I could think of a million and one reasons why I needed to nip this in the budfirst thing Monday morning. I then quickly reminded myself that it's the small things that count and if we all did something small to make a difference in this world, they would all add up to something big.

November 8 and 9

Worried all weekend.

November 10

Decided I would meet with John Monaco to talk one more time and invited Amy Paquette, Geographic Marketing Support, to discuss the feasibility of coordinating, purchasing, planting and documenting this within a three week period. John and Amy felt somewhat confident that I could pull this off.

I sent my first email to Tim Karl, Chief of Landscape Architecture, for the City of Detroit.

November 11

Started to take photos of the city and do research on Belle Isle Park and Dutch Elm and emerald ash borer disease, a devastating event in the history of tree diseases. The designated area on Belle Isle was in need of natural reforestation following these diseases, which destroyed more than 6 million trees in southeast Michigan.

Belle Isle is a 982 acre island park in the Detroit River. It is connected to the rest of the city by the MacArthur Bridge. It is the largest city island park in the United States and is larger than Central Park in New York City. The island is home to Dossin Great Lakes Museum, a botanical garden and the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, the nation's oldest conservatory—built in 1904The conservatory is home to one of the largest municipally-owned orchid collections in the United States. In addition, the island is home to a Nature Center where visitors are able to traverse wooded trails and view wildlife natural habitats.

Unfortunately, budget cuts in the 1990s (combined with Dutch elm disease and emerald ash borer) resulted in some island neglect and many native plants and trees did not survive. It is my desire to reverse the impact of these budget cuts by doing my small part to contribute to the revitalization in the City of Detroit and the greening of southeast Michigan.

The Urban Art Project is in an area that was blighted by Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer and poverty with no ability to re-plant. Local artists transformed 2 square city blocks into an internationally known urban art project which appropriately reflects the many cultural aspects of this great city. The city had it bull-dozed several years ago but the artists kept bringing it back and finally the city gave up. .

From there, I drove to Belle Isle, about 3 miles from downtown Detroit. I took photos of dead and fallen trees that have long been neglected and I could envision my little planting project as one small step in rectifying a problem that will take years to complete.

November 12

Received a call from Tim and received the green light from him to proceed. He faxed me a Park Improvement Authorization Form to complete. He suggested that if I contacted a greenhouse and asked for a list of their current inventory, he would help me select the appropriate tree(s) and would make recommendations based on the type of tree and where it/they should be planted.

After work, I went to a couple of nurseries and determined that I needed to visit a much larger facility which would provide me with a bigger assortment of trees to choose from.

November 13

Completed the Park Improvement Authorization Form and contacted a well-known greenhouse in southeast Michigan and talked to their shrub manager, John. I plan to meet with him on Saturday and while I'm out there, will contact Tim Karl, the city's landscape architect, who will help me decide on what to purchase. I also spoke with Tim today and agreed to meet him on the island on Wednesday, November 19, at 11:00 to show me where he thinks we should consider planting.

November 14

Spent today organizing photos for submission.

Rounding up the troops

November 15

I made a 90-mile round-trip visit to the nursery during a raging downpour and purchased two sweet gums, two black gums, one parrotia, peat moss, and bags of topsoil. I spent $491.63. The nursery will deliver all of this to Belle Isle on Friday, November 21.

November 17

I sent a note to the Greater Michigan EAs and TAs soliciting volunteers to help plant the trees on Friday. Four EAs responded: Gen duMaurier, Judi Sebastianelli, Karen Scherer and Stacey Trarop. I may need to get my husband to do some of the heavy lifting!

November 19

I made a site visit to Belle Isle to meet with the City of Detroit landscape architect and staked out five areas in which to plant our trees.

November 20

I made a brief presentation on this project to the Greater Michigan Market Going from Good to Great (G3) committee.

November 21

Planting Day.

Planting day

November 24

Friday, planting day, was very exciting for all of us. Volunteers included the following:

Genevieve duMaurier - TA in Tax
Judi Sebastianelli - EA in Assurance
Karen Scherer - TA in Assurance
Darren Ginter (aka Paul Bunyan) - Coordinator in US IT
Debbie Griffith - TA in IFS
Linda Johnson - PTS in TS
Frank Griffith - Debbie's husband
Jerry Reinbold - My husband
Me

It was a sunny day but 21 degrees and with the wind chill it felt like it was in the low teens. Top 2 inches of ground were completely frozen. We all headed out to Belle Isle caravan style with shovels, clippers and wheelbarrow in tow. I brought cold water and Karen Scherer brought hot chocolate! It took us a little over an hour to plant the five. One thing about the volunteers. This was not their project yet they embraced the opportunity as if it was. I could not have done the planting without them and for that I will be eternally grateful.