Tree project
has global reach |
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| Courtesy of the Hutchinson News Wes Johnson - news reporter |
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| LINDSBORG
- It was a meal Wes Adell won't soon forget. After dining on a tasty freshwater Koebie fish in Suriname, South America, Adell's hosts graciously allowed him the honor of digging into the fish's skull to retrieve two shiny stones. "The stones grow up inside the fish's head behind its eyes," Adell said. "I got a fork and brought out two thumb-sized rocks. It's kind of like the tradition we have of breaking a turkey or chicken's wishbone to bring good luck. Over there they make a neck- lace out of these rocks to bring good luck." Adell may have more unusual takes to talk about, thanks to his blossoming career as a tree-growing and composting expert at the Lindsborg Tree Sta- tion and Compost Station. In the last two years the station has given out more than 25,000 trees to schools, parks, cities and other nonprofit groups. It also has produced tons of compost from shredded tree limbs, leaves and yard waste. The station has generated an army of volunteers - more than 3,000 people - who help pot trees and do all kinds of chores. The project's sucess has attracted an interna- tional audience from countries that see the value of planting trees and composting waste. He'll soon have more time to devote to the pro- ject. Adell, who is a McPherson County commis- sioner, lost his re-election bid in November. He said he'll miss working with county employees and hav- ing a say in directing the county's future. But the tree station's success will keep him more than busy. In 1996 the Lindsborg Tree Station was named one of the top 25 most innovative problem-solving projects in America and won a United Nations na- tional excellence award. Two CNN reports about Adell's tree station that aired around the world prompted inquiries from around the globe. In 1997, a member of the Ghana, Africa, parliament traveled to Lindsborg to see how the tree station worked. Adell later flew to Ghana to help set up a similar tree growing and composting project to help refor- est the nation. He's organizing another conference that will showcase tree-growing and composting technology for numerous other African countries. Publicity from his Ghana trip led to another si- milar adventure last month in Suriname, on the |
northeast edge of South
America. Adell said he flew to the country's capital, Paramaribo, where he gave numerous presentations about tree growing and composting to government leaders. The country's biggest bauxite and gold mining companies also asked to hear his message, because their opera- tions serverly disrupt the landscape. The national television station aired a five-minute interview of Adell three times during his visit, he said. After his presentations, Adell flew aboard a seven- passenger airplane into the country's interior, landing on a short grass airstrip. From there he boarded a long wooden canoe and traveled down the Suriname River to a small village, where his hosts showed him what rural life was like in Suriname. "We stayed in grass huts and used kerosene lamps for light," Adell said. "We ate fish from the river and fruits of all kinds." Adell said he got hooked on a delicious ground-peanut sauce made of tomato paste, soy sauce and spices that is slathered over meats and rice. He also met numerous villagers, but remembered one family in particular. "In that family the dad had four wives, but stopped taking wives after he heard the Gospel," Adell said. "He kept his four wives, though, and they had 59 kids. The kids helped their moms wash clothes in the river and pitched in to help. They were a happy bunch." Adell met a farmer who grew 80 varieties of dry-land rice, far different than the wet-rice paddies most people are familiar with. "We had delicious rice with all of our meals," Adell said. The country orginally was settled by the Dutch in the 15th century. Black slaves were improted to work the plantations and then more people arrived from Indo- nesia. The resulting mixture of cultures gives Suriname an unusually exotic amblance, he said. "They are very pround of what they have now," Adell said. "They say they have no racial problems, unlike what we have back here." The country's rich supply of natural resources rein- forced Adell's commitment to protecting the environ- ment. "The older I'm getting, the more fundamentally I see how important our environment is," he said. "When the Creator created our beautiful world, he asked us to be good stewards of it. We need clean water, soil and air for everything to work. |
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