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Sandpoint Daily Bee
Celebration Forest
By: KIANTHA SHADDUCK
10/20/00
COLBURN — Steven Lazar wanted a family friend's troubled youth to receive good karma four years ago, so he planted a tree.
The healthy Colorado blue spruce now stands about 4-feet tall in a forest preserve near Highway 95, and Lazar wonders if its namesake was ever able to shed his "checkered" past to grow equally strong and beautiful.
"What the boy was going through was a lot for his parents," said Lazar, of Dharma Farm in Sandpoint. "I thought this would be a way I could help them, even though I have yet to meet their son."
Since then, about 200 other trees have joined the blue spruce in the Celebration Forest off of Colburn Culver Road. That number is expected to snowball under a recent two-year contract with International Order of the Golden Rule, an association of 1,200 funeral homes across the nation, said Heidi Stockton, the preserve's director of marketing and sales.
An additional 300,000 families are anticipated each year to take advantage of the contract, changing the face of the company. The company, which primarily advertises from a Web site, receives 98 percent of its clientele from the Internet.
Some customers have even traveled from their Florida and California homes to visit a tree they have dedicated to a loved one's passing, as well as to graduations, weddings, achievements and anniversaries.
"Flowers die, and our trees cost the same amount. So, why not show your affection with something that would last a lifetime?" Stockton said, kneeling down to pull long stems of Timothy grass tangled in the blue spruce on Wednesday. "Watching a tree grow year-by-year is a way of keeping a physical presence of a person, who may be alive or passed on." Including family pets. The one-of-a-kind, 10-acre parcel is home to needle and leafy trees dedicated to Governor Tauriello and Charlie Brown — names of just some well-missed cats and dogs.
Leaves of red and white oak trees in the preserve fell to the ground as Celebration Forest owners Dennis and Cherry Clark played with their two dogs.
The image could have been just an idea if the Clarks' had not snagged the prime real estate, protected in a grove of older growth trees and ranches, for $20,000 in 1996.
"We sat on the idea for many years after getting a call from a woman who inquired about planting a tree for her son that had died," Dennis said. "And now we grow about 80 percent of our own trees for this preserve. Wow, how times have changed."
The trees are guaranteed with a two-year warranty, and are replaced if one dies during that time. The harsh winters, threat of wildfires and disease thus far have not harmed the preserve, which has a 2-percent mortality rate.
Trees ranging in price from $49 to $149, depending on the species, come with a personalized certificate and a grove number for easy locating. Specialized packages for customers of the Golden Rule contract cost up to $25. They include a framed certificate, picture and tree sample. Ashes of a loved one's remains also can be scattered around their dedicated tree, Stockton said.
"Eventually, I can see a path winding through the rows of trees here with benches," Stockton said, gesturing with her hands. "This whole place is a living tribute where people can come to reflect on the lives of their loved ones."
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.