Early on Monday morning, January 20, 2020, Martin Luther King Junior’s national holiday, it was chilly and sunny.  A group of Houston Sierra Club volunteers drove to Big Thicket National Preserve, Big Sandy Creek Unit, to honor this civil rights “pioneer” by helping plant 10,000 Longleaf Pine seedlings.

This was a great day to remember Dr. King and to plant trees that would live for 100’s of years and grow green in his honor.  The National Park Service (NPS) and National Parks and Conservation Association set-up this volunteer service day which began 10 years ago.  The Houston Sierra Club has participated in about seven or eight of those events and we look forward each year so that we can “give back” and make our planet a little better and more hopeful.

One hundred and forty-four people participated.  People came from Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, Beaumont, and many other places.  Young and old alike enjoyed the crisp, sunny, blue-sky day.  Maxine Johnston, “Godmother of the Big Thicket”, was there, still as enthusiastic as when I met her over 40 years ago.  At 91, Maxine still “gets around” and she cheered us on.  Ellen Buchanan, “major domo” of the Golden Triangle Sierra Club, oversaw our efforts and seemed to be everywhere.  My buddy David did his share as he helped the Longleaf Pines “take root”!

I worked with Sierrans Cherry and Diana and we planted about six bags of seedlings.  Our dibble bars flew, the holes were filled quickly, as we moved methodically in an area that the NPS had cleared for planting.

At the end of the day, we finished the task at 1:30 pm, had some lunch, rested a bit, and took off for home.  We were a bit tired but excited about the “future forest” we had planted.  In the future, I will have to come back to see how “my pines” are doing.