Did you know... Bartlett Arboretum is in danger of washing away and you can help. Bartlett Arboretum is a finalist for Markham Vineyard's Mark of Distinction grant of $25,000. This grant would help examine and alleviate flooding in the Belle Plaine community while fortifying this historic property. Your vote could help determine the winner. You are invited to go to www.markhammarkofdistinction.com and vote for Bartlett Arboretum today! You may vote once per day through July 21. Please follow the link to vote and encourage your friends to do the same! Why do we need this grant?Check out this video created by Jaime Oppenheimer May 27, 2008: Read the following 300-word essay, written by Arb Angel Connie Bonfy, describing the community project: …Rise each day and seek deliberation
Essential needs and a humble habitation
Care-take the earth and all in its creation ~lyrics from Robin Macy's Song's From the Garden,
inspired by Henry David Thoreau Robin Macy, steward/owner of Bartlett Arboretum, came to Kansas to perform as a founding member and lead singer of the Dixie Chicks. She stumbled upon the arboretum for-sale sign due to a pivotal wrong turn. Through the prickly brambles of a once-proud forest, Macy saw unique promise and towering soul. In 1997, a few years after leaving the band, Robin relocated permanently to Kansas to revive the vision of Dr. Walter Bartlett—a physician and naturalist in the small town of Belle Plaine, Kansas. He believed this soil and water would create a flourishing 15-acre habitat for trees; considered in 1910 merely as shelter from the blistering summer heat or harsh drifting prairie snows. Bartlett's son, Glenn, turned his father's avocation into a passion; eventually the tree museum was christened Bartlett Arboretum, touted as the only mature arboretum between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The beautiful "Arb" is a work in progress. In recent years, due to urban sprawl and decades of brush/sediment build up, the entire town has suffered from dramatic, increased, violent flooding. The Euphrates Creek runs for approximately 5 miles through Belle Plaine and the Arb before it empties into the Ninnescah River. Floods erupt with greater frequency and fury, causing increased property damage not only to the historic arboretum, but to local residents. After frustrating meetings with local government officials, neighbors are saddened as they watch their investment wash away. $25,000 will empower us to alleviate the problem, assisting hundreds of earnest, hard-working homeowners and at the same time fortifying the near century-old Bartlett Arboretum for the future. Budget to Alleviate Flooding in Belle Plaine, Kansas & Fortify Historic Bartlett Arboretum| Expense* | Services | Cost $ |
|---|
| Hydrologist/civic engineer—detailed flood alleviation plan, 5 hours @ $300 per | 1,500. | | Community Forester—environmental oversight, 5 hours @ $50 per | 250. | | Surveyor—services for all property owners/aerial photos to document changing Flow-patterns of the Euphrates Creek, 10 hours @ $100 per | 1,000. | | Dredging Contractor—60 ft reach excavator to remove debris in abandoned railroad trestle and Euphrates Creek, 200 hours @ $160 per | 32,000. | | Trucking fees—haul excavated silt/debris | 7,500. | | Pumping fees—remove water during excavation | 2,000. | | Sumner County, Kansas Road and Bridge—remove and replace road viaduct $2000 per foot 50 feet = $10,000; $6,000 labor for six men, 2 weeks; $4,000 for engineering | 20,000 | | Robin Macy—project director, 100 hours @ $20 per | 2,000. | | Total Expense | 62,250. | | Income | | |
|---|
| Markham Mark of Distinction Award | 25,000. | | Tim McDonnell, Community Forester (donated time for environmental oversight) | 250. | | Terra Tech, Surveyor Services (donated time for property owners and aerial photos) | 1,000. | | Sean Michael Dewey, Dredging Contractor (donated time debris removal) | 10,000. | | Melvin Matlock, Sumner County (time/labor commitment removal/replacement viaduct) | 20,000. | | Robin Macy (donated time project director) | 2,000. | | Income from Arboretum fundraiser | 4,000. | | Total Income | 62,250. |
* The cost of this project is expected to eclipse this generous $25,000 award. All costs are
estimated on preliminary planning and actual bids. I am committed to raise the additional
funds to complete the project. For more information about historic Bartlett Arboretum and
Robin Macy, see http://www.bartlettarboretum.com/ |
