In Oregon, bright and early on Saturday morning, 11th February 2017, members of the Beaverton Sathya Sai Center joined the Friends of Trees organisation in celebrating the Jewish festival, Tu B’Shevat (pronounced TOO-BISH-VAT), by planting trees in Cook Park in the city of Tigard. The day’s proceedings began with an informative talk about Native American traditions, followed by a beautiful Jewish faith prayer reminding everyone to be grateful for the precious gift of water. It was a beautiful sunny day as SSIO members met volunteers from the Friends of Trees, who instructed them on how to plant the Indian plum tree, a native tree well known to the local Native American tribes. Working steadily for over four hours, the volunteers planted about 250 trees. By the end of the day, they were exhausted but gratified to have played a part in preserving Mother Earth.
