District Governor Ellen Young Presenting Wendy and our club with the District's Presidential Citation
Tom Pope, River Trails Park District Director of Parks knows a great deal about the Kentucky Coffee Tree!
 
We met at the River Trails Park District's Rob Roy Golf Course today so we could dedicate the tree we donated.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with us taking a group photo, so we just enjoyed the change of pace and the talk from Tom Pope, Director of Parks at the park district. 
 
We also had two guests.  John Eilering brought his grandson Branden, and while I'm sure attending a Rotary meeting isn't quite high up on the to-do list of an 8-year old just starting summer vacation; Branden was a good sport about it. 
 
District Governor Ellen Young also joined us, but she had an ulterior motive!  She presented the club with the District's Presidential Citation for excellence during the year.  This is the first time we've earned this award and were one of just six club so honored.  Kudos to the club officers and directors for their work in helping us meet each criteria! 
 
Over the past several years, the club has donated a tree to the Rob Roy golf club, in part to help replace trees lost to beetles or disease or weather.  We work with park staff to select a tree that will grow strong and, more importantly, is native to this area.  This year, the chosen tree is a Kentucky Coffee Tree and Tom Pope gave us it's bio.  The name comes from the fact that its fruit (nuts?) were often used as a substitute for coffee.  It takes about 3-5 years before the tree bears any fruit, but after that watch out!  Tom pointed out that kids especially like playing with the fruit - they're great in sling shots and for street baseball (especially with aluminum bats).