By Lea Sloan, Vice President of Communications
As Eddie Bauer president and CEO, Mike Egeck, said to the media on the morning of November 11, 2015, “This is the kind of weather Eddie Bauer clothes are made for.”
November 11th dawned to a clear blue sky and a crisp 27 degrees for the planting of American Forests’ 50 millionth tree in California’s San Bernardino Mountains. Not only was our president and CEO, Scott Steen, also present to speak to the media for the big occasion, so was Ryan Reynolds, the new philanthropic celebrity ambassador for Eddie Bauer’s partnership with American Forests.
The gorgeously styled table and setting outside on the shores of Lake Arrowhead under magnificent 100-year-old Ponderosa pines set the perfect backdrop for the celebration of 20 years of planting together with Eddie Bauer, adding up to 6.5 million trees in 150 different projects across the country and around the world.
Following the media event, we all headed up the mountain for the planting of “Gordon,” as Ryan Reynolds dubbed the seedling, a baby Ponderosa pine, who is a girl, he wryly informed all. “It’s a good Canadian name.”
After the planting of “Gordon,” Mike and Scott joined the teams from American Forests and Eddie Bauer and the media to enthusiastically plant another 40 Ponderosa seedlings in our Mountain Communities Wildfire ReLeaf project, local partners with whom American Forests has planted trees for a decade.
We now look forward to a very exciting year ahead with Eddie Bauer and Ryan Reynolds. And, American Forests and Mountain Communities project manager, Cheryl Nagy, were thrilled to get the good news that over and above Eddie Bauer’s plans for planting with us for 2016, they have committed to an additional 20,000 trees for this gorgeous, rugged mountain setting.
So, as we celebrate the milestone of planting 50 million trees, here’s to 50 million more with the help of our incredible partners like Eddie Bauer.
Learn more about our partnership with Eddie Bauer and how you can help: https://www.americanforests.org/ways-to-give/eddie-bauer/.