Vicky Bartish passed away on Sunday, February 5, 2012.
She had been fighting pancreatic cancer since she was diagnosed late last
March. Vicky was exceedingly strong and refused to give up for nearly a year.
A Celebration of Life gathering is being planned to commemorate Vicky by
planting a grove of trees — Vicky’s Grove. We had hoped to have this
gathering sooner (original date March 10) than later; however, finding the
perfect location for Vicky’s Grove and gaining the necessary approvals have
required more time than anticipated. (We have a few sites that we’re
investigating, but if you have a location to suggest, please let us know.)
So, since fall is a wonderful time to plant trees and one of Vicky’s favorite
seasons, we will have the Celebration of Life gathering this fall.
Also, since Vicky was the Executive Director of EcoLandscape California
(ELC), we think that it's fitting to use the ELC website to provide her friends
and colleagues updates as plans develop and to make donations toward
Vicky’s Grove.
|
 |
Vicky knew so many people and touched many lives. Just as Vicky loved to write, her sister Carrie is a gifted writer as well, so we'd like to share the following note written by Carrie:
This morning, I saw the Sycamore outside my kitchen window, its branches bathed in the early morning light. I went out to stand in the yard, holding my warm coffee cup in the chilly morning, and gazed up into the branches, letting my senses take in the golden tones that are only there at day’s first light – and thought of my sister, Vicky. I so wished that she could be standing next to me, watching all the tiny birds hanging on the prickly seed pods, filling the tree with song, as the golden sun bathed its branches in light…
Water conservation was Vicky’s third career; getting her certification as an arborist was her second. For nearly 30 years, Vicky worked as an RN; she tended to people who were sick and dying. She padded up and down hospital hallways in her white nurse shoes, stethoscope around her neck, taking better care of all her patients than she did herself. One day, she just woke up and said, I want to do something else – and she became an arborist. Just like that. She’d always loved trees, so she studied and read and studied some more. She took the tests and passed with flying colors. And then, she tended sick trees instead of people.
She learned about pruning and beetles and taught people how to tend to their trees. She educated the wise and put the ones who topped and butchered their lovely creatures up on her “wall of shame” with photographs so others would learn what not to do. She planted trees and watched them grow, pushing their roots deep into the earth so they could withstand the strongest of storms.
… Join us in planting a grove of trees in Vicky’s honor. As these trees grow and mature, Vicky’s legacy will continue. They will remind us all of Vicky’s dedication to her craft and to her love for all things that grow, whether it be a Valley Oak, Tupelo, Linden tree, or a Sweet Lilac bush.
-- Carrie Pepper
Come into the Garden . . . Blue Thumb Blog 3-25-12 - dedicated to Vicky
To make a donation toward the "Planting and Care of Vicky’s Grove."
|
We are in the process of looking at appropriate sites for Vicky's Grove, so if you know of some potential locations, private land, that you think Vicky would like, please contact us at info@ecolandscape.org
* We will be updating this page as more details become available about Vicky's Grove and the fall Celebration of Life gathering for Vicky Bartish.
Please share this invitation with others whose lives Vicky touched. Here is the link to this page. http://www.ecolandscape.org/eventsVickysGrove.html
For questions or more information: email us at info@ecolandscape.org or webmaster@ecolandscape.org
|
