Tuesday, May 08, 2007

13 Flame Trees adopted under new Restoration Program

Flame Tree Adoptions: MINA Board member Chuck Sayon, Nancy Rushmer, Rep. Cinta Kaipat, and Doreen Jesus of Guam pose with some of the Adopt-a-Flame Trees.

Beautify CNMI is gearing up for another round of tree plantings this year with an Adopt-a-Flame Tree program.

Beautify CNMI! is asking members of the community and business owners to “adopt” a Flame Tree by donating $20 per tree to the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance.

The trees will be planted in the location of the adoptees choosing, but Beautify CNMI is urging people to have the trees planted along Beach Road. According to Rep. Cinta Kaipat, “We would like to encourage the planting of the trees along Beach Road because a lot of the old trees are infected and will die soon. We want to plant now before they get taken down and it looks empty.”

Adoptees will be recognized with a certificate, a small marker next to the base of the tree, and with a picture on the Beautify CNMI website. The adoptions are ongoing and planting will begin in late June. Says Beautify CNMI Chairman Angelo Villagomez, “We’re just waiting for the rain.”

Adoptees will be invited to the plantings, but if they can not make it, they will receive a photo along with the GPS coordinates of their adopted tree.

Doreen Jesus and Greg Pangelinan of Guam each adopted a tree for Jesus’s son, US Army Sergeant Jesse Castro, who lost his life serving in Iraq last December. Castro was buried in Guam, but his father, Jesus Castro, is from Saipan.

The adoptees from the Flame Tree Festival are Aya Matsumoto (2), Shirley’s Coffee Shop (3), Nancy Rushmer, Ian Catlett, Calvo & Clark LLC, Don Bader, Nathan Tan, Doreen Jesus, Greg Pangelinan, and Bree Reynolds.

In 2006, Beautify CNMI planted 22 Flame Trees along Beach Road and in January 2007 they planted 4 more. To adopt a Flame Tree, contact Angelo Villagomez at 483-1078 or angelovillagomez@gmail.com.

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