The Ancient Olympia Tree Replanting Project Exceeds goals - Honorary Citizenship for Dianne and Steve
The "Replanting Ancient Olympia" project exceeded our goal of raising enough funds to purchase 80,000 olive trees. Because of the generosity of donors from around the world, we raised enough to purchase 135,000 trees. To date, all of the trees have been delivered and Planted. As a result, Dianne and Steve de Laet were made Honorary Citizens of Ancient Olympia along with Yanos Gramatidis and Zozo Idioriki. A great honor that we pass along to all of the donors who made this happen.
Please visit www.Olympia-Trees.com
Doves in Flight - story about a little bird
Doves in Flight is dedicated to Areti FARMAKIS, age 12, for having the good sense to tell her father to ask for help when the fires that came in August, 2021, destroyed the olive trees, homes, and livelihoods of the small farmers in the Olympia region of Greece. Her father asked for help and help came. now we are adding a garment of 150,000 new olive trees for our mother earth to wear in the area around ancient Olympia – the home of the Olympic games.
At the same time that the fires brought destruction to Ancient Olympia IN AUGUST, 2021, fires raged in South Lake Tahoe, California, where Lolo and Blue were forced to evacuate their homes with their parents and the few belongings they could gather. We thank Lolo, age 6, for her cover art for our story and for including a small onyx egg from Greece among the family treasures that were saved. Now Ancient Olympia and South Lake Tahoe might was well be sister towns. As for the heroes of our story – the doves in flight – I remember a story that my grandmother once told to me about a determined little bird.
Caddo Lake Art Retreat - In 2019, we launched what we hope will become an annual retreat for a small group of artists who are willing to work in participation with others in a setting that offers refreshment to the imagination and is conducive to creativity. Caddo Lake is situated on the Texas Louisiana border and is arguably one of the wildest and most beautiful lakes in America. We enjoyed excellent cuisine, explored the lake by boat, and immersed ourselves in the wildness of the wildlife sanctuaries that flank what was formerly a family home and is now, a house that stands among the dogwoods, in the forest, and waits for artists to come!
Ama's Grove organic farming laboratory - 300 olive and fruit trees were planted in 2019 to begin what is envisioned as an organic farm purposed for research and teaching organic techniques to the farming community in the Argolida. This project will be headed up by Tom Pew and Steve de Laet. Tom is the founder of Merlin Organics in Tucson, Arizona. Merlin employs a regenerative, whole-ecosystem approach and a science-driven methodology that includes soil and plant analysis, program design and planning, organic treatment solutions, and monitoring services. The objective is to reduce the amount of pesticides used in the area, improve crop yield, and promoted agricultural sustainability.