Actor Lee Stetson plants a tree in Hermitage Park.
Lovely sunshine accompanied Lee Stetson (John Muir Live)when he planted a celebratory Sequoia tree at Hermitage Park jointly marking the centennial of the National Park Service in America and Helensburgh’s new status as a start point for Scotland’s new coast to coast ‘John Muir Way’ walking route. Named after the famous 19th century Cherokee, Chief Sequoyah, Sequoia trees are the largest trees in the world, the giant redwoods of California.
The sequoia is also one of the first celebratory trees planted in the Park for quite a while. The last time was when a pink cherry tree was planted in 2005 by the Japanese Consul on the occasion of Helensburgh’s first Blossom Festival or Hanami.
Members of Helensburgh Tree Conservation Trust and the Friends of Hermitage Park watched as Lee re-enacted John Muir’s famous description of climbing a storm tossed tree in Yosemite. It was a great way to celebrate the flowering of our glorious spring blossom trees, although we don’t want any storms blowing the petals away too soon!
