Veggie Fest 2017 – A Huge Success! – Plant a Tree, Clean the Air

There’s no doubt about it–Veggie Fest 2017 was a huge success! Tens of thousands attended this year — more than any other year. The food was delicious, the bands were fabulous, the speakers were great! Despite the large crowd, there seemed to be happiness, peace, and good will everywhere. I couldn’t help but think that this is the way America should be!

Veggie Fest 2017 August 12 & 13 at Illinois Benedictine University, Lisle, IL

This year our booth was right next to the entrance, so we were swamped from the start. We ran out of trees on Saturday at about 5:00 pm. Then, Sunday morning, we potted up a whole bunch more trees which we ran out of those at about 1:00 pm. Throughout the day, we kept potting up more trees and bringing them over in batches, handing them out as fast as they arrived.

A lovely lady who grows food for her community in her garden. Now she will have a tree there, too!

We finally ran out of paper cups, so we had to quit. But we still had people signing up to get an email about the next time we’re going to do this. Here are photos of just a few of them.

A Mom and Dad with their 2 cute kids and 1 new tree. They'll have their hands full for a while! — A Mom and Dad with their 2 cute kids and 1 new tree. They’ll have their hands full for a while!

A happy, colorful couple. I have to smile just looking at them. They were a delight to talk to.

A gentleman with a GREAT T-Shirt who really "gets" the tree thing. — A gentleman with a GREAT T-Shirt who really “gets” the tree thing.

And here are some more of the wonderful people who will be planting trees:

A delightful lady who looks like she may be just realizing that she is going to be doing a lot of planting!

This smart woman who used her Veggie Fest bag to carry her new tree, as did many others. — This smart woman who used her Veggie Fest bag to carry her new tree.

Here’s a look at some of the places where the seedlings will be planted.

2017 Veggie Fest Tree Planting Locations (click to view full size interactive map to find your dot) This is just a small portion of the entire map, so click above to see the full interactive version.

I want to thank everyone who stopped by and picked up a seedling and promised to plant it! I think there were were over 700 of you, roughly, making this the best give-away event EVER for me!

And a very special thanks to all my dear friends who pitched in so many times to make this possible. They did everything from digging and potting, to driving back and forth, to lending equipment and moral support, to shopping, setting up the booth and taking it down, scrubbing the bins, and even donating the booth. Here are just a few that I have photos of:

Bonnie potted trees and worked the booth. She was shy at first, but got on board quickly and seemed to enjoy it by the end. She was enormously helpful by the end. — Bonnie potted trees and worked the booth. She was shy at first, but got on board quickly and seemed to enjoy it by the end. She was enormously helpful.

Ann potted and shopped and in general did everything with great gusto. She's our most experienced gardener. — Ann potted and shopped and in general did everything with great gusto. She’s our most experienced gardener.

Rob worked tirelessly to dig and pot up trees. We thought we had more than enough in advance (these bins are laid out 3 deep!), but this amount only lasted until Sat afternoon. — Rob worked tirelessly to dig and pot up trees. We thought we had more than enough in advance (these bins are laid out 3 deep!), but these only lasted from Sat morning until Sat afternoon.

Karsten (in yellow shirt) dug, potted, watered, helped set up, and drove back and forth with more trees. He also helped clean out the equipment we borrowed. — Karsten (in yellow shirt) dug, potted, watered, helped set up, and drove back and forth with more trees. He also helped clean out the bins we borrowed so we could return them clean.

Thanks also to Steve Tiwald of the Green Earth Institute for lending much needed bins as well as moral support and encouragement.

And last but by no means least, thanks go out to the Veggie Fest people for donating the booth again this year so that we could reach so many people! The Veggie Fest staff was incredibly nice! They helped us move stuff in a golf cart before and after the event. They brought us buckets full of water which we didn’t even ask for–they were very thoughtful and always there when we needed something!

Sandy registering people in the booth at Veggie Fest — Sandy happily giving away sugar maple seedlings in the booth at Veggie Fest 2017