Swingle's Plant Pathologist Rides in His 13th Tour des Trees
America’s Largest Fundraiser for Tree Research.
Steve Geist, an Aurora plant pathologist for Swingle Lawn, Tree and Landscape Care, is training and fundraising to ride in the STIHL Tour des Trees, a weeklong, 500-mile cycling event through northern Illinois this July. The Tour benefits the Tree Research and Education Endowment (TREE) Fund, an international non-profit focused on education and research in arboriculture and urban forestry. Arboriculture is the science of caring for trees in the landscape.
“Tree care is the result of great research, and much of this research was funded by the TREE Fund,” said Geist. “This will be my 13th consecutive Tour raising nearly $80,000.The Tour is a great way that I can help raise money for the tree care industry.
Riders raise a minimum of $3,500 to participate in the STIHL Tour des Trees, which helps to fund scientific research grants, education programs and scholarships administered by the TREE Fund.
The 2010 Tour launches from Chicago’s Millennium Park on July 18 and heads westward to the Mississippi River, with stops in Zion, Rockford and Galena. Additional destinations include Moline, Peoria and Princeton, before the Tour returns to the Chicago area for a “victory lap” and closing ceremonies at the Morton Arboretum during the International Society of Arboriculture’s International Tree Climbing Championship on July 24. Along the way, Tour cyclists will plant or dedicate trees in the communities they visit, and participate in community education events focusing on proper tree care.
New for 2010 is a one-day ”Ride for Research” on Saturday, July 24 featuring two of Chicagoland's most scenic and noteworthy research facilities, Fermilab and the Morton Arboretum. More than 100 additional cyclists are expected to join the STIHL Tour des Trees riders for the 35-mile “Ride for Research,” to help raise awareness of the TREE Fund and the importance of research to the sustainability of our urban forests.
“Riders like Geist have really stepped up to fund the research needed to preserve our urban forests,” said Janet Bornancin, executive director of the TREE Fund. “These research projects benefit people, trees, and the environment, and none of them would be possible without the support of the dedicated cyclists in the STIHL Tour des Trees.”
