6th Annual
Lou Krieger’s “Adopt A Tree”
“Benefiting The Beautification/Maintenance Of the Highway 17 Bypass Volunteer Project”
Sons Of Italy Lodge 2662 - Golf Tournament
Sunday November 8th – Registration starting @ 6:45am with 8:00am Shotgun Start
At
Wachesaw Plantation East
“2007 Grand Strand Golf Course of the Year Winner”
$75 Per Person – Captains Choice Format
Includes – Continental Breakfast with Coffee and Juice, Greens Fees and Cart, Range Balls, Lunch from Outback Steakhouse Of Murrells Inlet, Contests and Prizes.
1st Place Men’s and Ladies Winner
Round of Golf for 4 with Greens Fees and Cart and 4 Pairs of Ticket to Legends In Concert!
2nd Thru 10th Place – Golf for 4 from Signature Golf Group
Plus Men’s and Ladies Closest to pin, Closest to the pin 50-50, Long Drive and More!
CALL LOU at 843-215-3753 TO REGISTER TODAY!
Here is another event that needs your support now... Remember to DO your part, it is your town too!!!
Adopt A Tree Highway
Myrtle Beach
**The “Adopt A Tree” Highway was founded in December 2002 with the signing of a proclamation with Elizabeth Mabry and SCDOT for the right to beautify the Highway 17 Bypass
from Holmestown Road South to Murrells Inlet at the Georgetown County/Horry County Lines. This proclamation required us to design, apply and acquire the permit, purchase, and plant and maintain all “beds” planted in the above area.
**The funds for the initial start and the continuation of the project were obtained with “on air” advertising by my former radio station and benefit shows at places like Legends in Concert and Medieval Times plus donations of mulch from L & L Landscaping and Pools in Murrells Inlet. The members of the Lakes Property Owners Association have also heavily supported the project. Their initial generosity helped get us started and they continue to donate $1,000 dollars a year from the POA, participate in this annual golf tournament and also pick up the trash as part of the “Adopt” a Highway program. They were the County Award Winners in 2007 for their cleanup efforts.
**The project does not receive any money from the City Of Myrtle Beach, Horry County or the State or Federal Government. The highway has been designed, planted and maintained solely on donations for equipment and supplies and “ALL VOLUNTEER LABOR”. The highway project in Pawleys Island/Litchfield gets over $100,000 a year in business donations and matching tax money. Their beautification project is planted and maintained by private “paid” labor. We don’t have that luxury. Beside myself, my two other helpers, Buddy Sessions and Patrick Burke have been volunteering their time, and sometimes some very hard labor, for almost 7 years.
**Since the inception of the project we now have 2 miles of the total area planted, which represents the largest public/community volunteer beautification project in the entire State of South Carolina. To date, we have unloaded and spread by hand, over 250 tons of mulch (which I stopped counting a year ago) and planted hundred of trees and shrubs and maybe close to 1,000 bulbs. The only things we don’t personally plant are the palm trees, which are planted by L & L.
**We are required to comply with Federal Guidelines for plantings and also local agreements with the line of sight of billboards. There are lots of beautiful trees and shrubs you could plant, but the Feds have limited us to certain trees and shrubs. After getting turned down on a few permits, I finally got smart and said, “just give me the list of what I can plant in layman’s terms”. If it is not on the list, then I know we can’t plant it. As far as the billboards go, they must be given a 300 feet line of sight in both directions, so in those areas, we cannot plant anything that will grow over 6 feet tall. Also, since we have no watering systems just what God sends us, so we must also utilize plants that are tolerant to drought. We have lost more plants to damage by vehicles than we have had die. If we do not get an accident report on any damage to the beds, we have to pay to have them replaced. Last year we were hit five times and lost 3 palms trees in the process. Those are our most expensive tree at $225 a pop, and really eats into the $3,000 to $4,000 we raise annually for the project. If you take care of your yard properly, you know how much you spend annually. When you look at taking care of 2 miles of plantings that require almost year round maintenance, the money we spend is miniscule compared to what a private contractor would cost us.
**Since the inception of the program, we have also been able to raise enough money at times to help us buy equipment that makes things easier to do. Initially, we took care of all the beds by cutting with walking mowers and other hand tools until we raised enough money to buy some additional equipment. The “Lou Krieger and Company Adopt A Tree Highway” now owns:
1. 6 x 8 open trailer
2. Yard Man 42” Lawn Tractor
3. Ryobi Weed Whacker
4. Stihl Hedge Trimmer
5. 25 Gallon Electric Sprayer
6. 2- Pitchforks for Mulch
All of the above equipment is kept in a closed and secure storage shed at my home and I maintain all of the above on a regular basis. We have been through a couple of Weed Whackers and Hedge Trimmers over the years and several repair jobs to the Lawn Tractor and numerous blade changes. When we cut, we typically spin each bed 2-3 times, depending on the location, and when you multiply that by 2 miles, it’s an awful lot of cutting and wear on the machinery. I really don’t know how that Yard Man Riding Mower is still going since it gets an annual workout.
**We are looking for participation in out golf tournament on Sunday November 8th to generate enough funds again to take care of project for 2010. We are also in the process of rebuilding our beds with “hardwood mulch” and then topping them with “pine straw” to try and stop the quick deterioration of the mulch. To do the entire area will take at least 300 bails of pine straw at $4.00 plus tax and numerous loads of mulch. Our trailer handles 4 square yards of mulch each time out at $60 per load. Some of the larger beds we have take 2-3 loads since they are almost 100 feet in length, which will probably match the cost of pine straw or exceed it. That project alone, without any cutting, replacing, replanting, expanding will cost us at least $2500. I have plans for a small expansion area for 2010 just south of the entrance to the Indigo Creek Subdivision, but that expansion will depend on the amount donated and the profit from the upcoming golf tournament. A letter has been sent to the President and HOA at Indigo Creek for additional money for this expansion, so depending on what we receive, will have a direct reflection on what we can plant to expand of if we do at all.
I know that times are tough for donations since I have been out of work since April of 2008. It doesn’t matter how much, if every homeowner in just the area of the beautification sent in just $5.00, we could quadruple what we collect. If you would like to make a donation, make the check payable to the “Adopt A Tree Highway” and send to:
Adopt A Tree
C/O Lou Krieger
3264 Red Bird Lane
Myrtle Beach, SC 29588-7602
If you have any questions, I can be reached at 843-215-3753 or LouK1065@gmail.com . Thanks to Bill Darby and the folks at the Coastal Alternatives Magazine, Scott Taylor at the Signature Golf Group, Chis Beatty at Legends in Concert, Mendi at the Outback Steakhouse and the Sons Of Italy Lodge 2662 for their “years” of continued support in this project.
