Potomac Runners, a free year-round training program with hundreds of runners from Alexandria, Arlington, and the District of Columbia (www.PotomacRunners.org), recently raised $4,800 to donate to the National Park Service to replace four American Elms along the George Washington Memorial Parkway that were felled by Hurricane Isabel last September. The trees were planted on April 7, 2004.

The National Park Service and the Potomac Runners have scheduled a Tree Planting and Donation Ceremony for May 15, 2004, at 9:45 AM at the northern Belle Haven Marina picnic area, approximately one mile south of the Beltway. The ceremony will start following the completion of Potomac Runners' regular Saturday morning training run.

"The group has met near the large Elms at Belle Haven Marina for more than seven years," said Philip Davis of Potomac Runners. "As frequent users of the Trail, we wanted to do our part to replace some of those fallen trees. One of trees that went down was where our group meets each week so we felt the loss right away. Eighty of our runners stepped up and helped us raise the money. The biggest contribution, though, came from Tim English, who came up with the idea and made all of the necessary contacts with the National Park Service."

Hurricane Isabel did more than $82 million damage along its path leaving more than 2,000,000 people without power for hours and days, as well as felling more than 12,000 trees onto roads and trails at 26 federal parks across six states. Locally the flooding caused the evacuation of many residents, including many near the Belle Haven Marina, and the damage closed large sections of the Mount Vernon trail, washing out bridges and paths between Old Town Alexandria and the Mount Vernon Mansion.

Local, regional and state leaders have been invited including Governor Mark Warner, an Alexandria City resident; Congressman Jim Moran; and the Mayor of Alexandria, Bill Euille, as well as representatives from the National Park Service.

From idea to completion took about three months of communications between Potomac Runners and various government contacts. We would like to acknowledge the persistence and commitment of the employees of the National Park Service and volunteers from Potomac Runners:
--Adam Badowski, George Washington Parkway Grounds Maintenance Supervisor
--Audrey Calhoun, Superintendent of the George Washington Memorial Parkway
--Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director, Partnerships Office
--Phillip Davis, Potomac Runners
--Tim English, Potomac Runners

The Potomac Runners donated the funds for planting the trees to the NPS Tree & Shrub Replacement Fund. The fund is intended to provide reliable, significant monies on an annual basis, in perpetuity, to supplement funds appropriated by Congress for the replacement of trees and shrubs in National Park units throughout the NPS National Capital Region.

For more information on the Tree & Shrub Replacement Fund, or the Greater Washington National Parks, contact Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director, Partnerships Office, National Capital Region, Room 350, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW, Washington, DC 20242. Mr. Eugster's phone number is 202-619-7492 and his e-mail address is glenn_eugster@nps.gov.