Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 03/21/00
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple 126

Editors: Photo accompanies release   Please note local interest
TREE FOUNDATION PRESENTS "MOTHER OAK"
     HAMMOND -- The Hammond Tree Foundation will present a an original play, "Mother
Oak or Learn from the Silence of Nature," at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, March 26 at Tinsley Terrace at
Southeastern Louisiana University.
     The play was written by Ponchatoula High School teacher and former Southeastern
faculty member Kay Butler and was funded through an Urban and Community Forestry Grant.
Cast members include Taylor Vallot as T-Bob, Kyle Peltier as Earl the Squirrel, Kaylin Vallot as
the Shrub, Bridgette Lyons as Impy the Impatien and Erin and Shiloh Klein as Leaves 1 and 2.
     Children old and young are invited to join in the fun as Mother Oak, a shrub who wants
to be a great tall pine, a stuttering squirrel and two karate chopping oak leaves teach an angry
young man named "T-Bob" a thing or two about the importance of our historic oaks. 
Tinsley Terrace is adjacent to the university tennis courts on North Oak St. The audience
is invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets.
     Free 5-foot oak trees will also be given away to those attending the performance.
     Southeastern currently is partnering with the Hammond Tree Foundation on a two-year
project, funded by a $20,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Urban grant,  to
survey and map Hammond's trees and to develop a "smart growth plan" for city forestation.
The project is being  coordinated by Southeastern's Florida Parishes Social Sciences
Research Center with the assistance of the City of Hammond and the Hammond Tree
Foundation.
     For additional information the play, call Jeanne Gewalt, 504-747-8498.
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp00.htm