It’s Official – We’re an Arboretum with a Kiosk!

Our Arboretum kiosk ribbon cutting ceremony was an unqualified success! I will admit that I had my usual pre-party jitters, the ones that makes you think no-one is going to show up at all to your gathering. But that wasn’t the case today. There must have been over 40 people in the parking lot, all waiting to hear about our Arboretum.

Mike McLaughlin, Pete Kovarik, Dan Struve, Martha Buckalou, Cindy Gunn, Laura Fay, and Chris O’Leary all spoke, each representing a partner of LOUA. Then the actual ribbon cutting took place. I managed to take a video of the ribbon cutting on my iPhone, and this one wasn’t upside down. That’s Chad Hoff, nursery director (left) and Alan McKnight, director of Columbus Recreation and Parks, both from the City of Columbus, who have given us so much support, cutting the ribbon.

With the large turnout, there were many people who signed up for an annual membership with LOUA. They all proudly walked away with a new t-shirt bearing our logo. Then Pete took a group of us on the Indianola Walk, which took a little over an hour. It was much longer than usual because Pete stopped at each tree and gave a little talk about what kind of tree we were looking at, what benefit it had to wildlife, and other interesting facts. If you want to take either of the walks, the Indianola (shorter) or the Glen Echo (longer), there are maps in the kiosk along with membership forms. We have several levels for donating; every little bit helps out! And you can also donate at on this blog by clicking on the “How To Help” tab at the top of the page.

The best part of the day was as we finished the walk and were heading back into the parking lot, we saw someone walking away from our kiosk, map in hand. It was an amazing feeling. We have accomplished so much and had so many helping hands along the way.

Until next time.