25 trees, one Saturday
St. Vincent de Paul is partnering with ReLeaf Petaluma to bring 25 new trees to campus — Island Oak, Toyon, Incense Cedar, Catalina Cherry and other California natives, placed along Howard and Walnut, through the centre of campus, and near the garden. ReLeaf provides the trees, the plan and the expertise at no cost to the school. What they need from us is people.
Nov 7 is cancelled — the prep got done early
On Saturday, October 31, Rebuilding Together Petaluma brought a full crew to campus and a handful of our dads worked alongside them. Stumps, root balls, overgrown beds, a trailer-load of green waste — they got through far more than anyone planned for.
Roughly 80% of the site prep is finished, so we no longer need Saturday, November 7. Everything now points at the 14th: with a big family turnout we can clear the last few sites and plant all 25 trees in one morning.
Planting day — the one that counts now
Saturday, November 14 · Sign-in 8:45am, start 9:00am · the more the better
ReLeaf runs this one. They bring the trees, the tools, the stakes and the mulch, and they'll walk everyone through planting, staking and mulching. No experience needed at all — if you can hold a shovel, you can do this.
We'll knock out the handful of sites still left from prep, then plant. A strong turnout finishes the whole project in a single morning.
Bring: work gloves, closed-toe shoes, layers, sunscreen and a hat — plus a shovel or wheelbarrow if you have one.
Where the trees are going
All 25 sites, flagged and numbered by ReLeaf — along Howard and Walnut, through the centre of campus, and near the garden.
Every marker is a tree. Most of these sites are now cleared and ready — the October 31 crew saw to that.
Who can come
Open to the whole school — moms, dads, grandparents, older students. No committee, no meetings, just a Saturday morning outdoors with other parents. You don't need to be in the Dad's Club.
- Every pair of hands means more trees in the ground that day
- Hours count toward family service hours
- 25 trees on campus that weren't there before
- Helpers must be 14 or older
An hour counts
If you can only give an hour, give an hour. Someone who shows up at eleven and leaves at noon has still moved a stump that nobody else has to move.