Your annual search for a Mother’s Day surprise may have ended.
Volunteers in Snohomish are organizing guided tours of the city’s notable trees, all in the historic district of a city founded in 1858.
“In addition to being historic trees, we get to look at historic houses as well,” said Lya Badgley, founder of Green Snohomish, what she describes as a community-building group. No home tours are included in the event.
Last fall, the group organized similar tours to help celebrate the completion of an updated brochure on the city’s historic trees.
People enjoyed the fall tours so much “we thought, ‘Hey, let’s do one for the spring before the leaves are completely out,’ ” Badgley said. “People can see the architecture of the tree and the shape of the leaves.”
Several of the trees were planted in the early 1900s. Frontier families brought bits of home with them, “either a piano, violin or tree sapling,” Badgley said.
Some trees will be in blossom. “It’s a nice time of year to look at trees,” she said.
The tours are free, but donations are accepted to help offset the costs of producing the color brochure with a map designating the sites of the historic trees and telling a little about them.
Looking Glass Coffee, where the tours begin, is providing free coffee for participants.
Tour guides will adjust the route to create a walk that’s appropriate to those in the group.
People who use a cane or those in wheelchairs can be accommodated, but should contact Badgley via email in advance of the events.
The tours will last about 90 minutes. It will take in an area roughly bounded by Union Avenue, Avenue F, and Second and Sixth streets.
“It’s a great idea,” Badgley said of the spring tours. “Wouldn’t you want to take your mother around?”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
Trees of Snohomish tour
Here are some examples of what people will see on the tree (and home) tour:
506 Ave. B:
This Chinese chestnut tree is included on the list of Champion Trees of Washington, a difficult to get certification. It has large edible nuts enclosed in prickly burr. It’s near a 1902 house built by the Hendrie family. They brought the tree to Snohomish from their former home in New England.
311 Ave. C:
A sugar maple planted in the early 1900s by Robert Hazeltine, the city’s first letter carrier. It was brought from the family’s former home in Whitehall, Michigan, to serve as a reminder of their roots.
Carnegie Building:
Elms and beech trees, including copper beech trees, near the building constructed in 1910 at 105 Cedar Ave. The are thought to have been planted about the time the building was constructed.
429 Ave. B:
A shagbark hickory, which can grow up to 90 feet in height and live up to 200 years. The trees have edible nuts. The tree has a keyhole in its trunk, where children are believed to have left notes for each over the past century. The year the tree sprouted is not known.
If you go
Celebrate Mother’s Day with two guided walking tours of trees of note in Snohomish’s historic district led by the Green Snohomish Group at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on May 13. Meet at Looking Glass Coffee Shop, 801 First St., Snohomish. The event is free, although donations are accepted. The tours are typically 90 minutes. Trees of Snohomish walking guides are available. Email lyabadgley@comcast.net or call 360-348-7059 for more information.
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