The Village of Ozona, Florida
The Official Website of Ozona Village Improvement Society (OVIS)
Tree Planting Initiative
Ozona Community - Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 10:00 AM - Ozona South end of Pinellas Trail
Calling all Ozonians!!!
OVIS will be organizing our first annual Tree Planting Initiative to Re-Canopy Ozona's Trails and Streets (Re-COTS)!
WHEN: July 8th at 10 AM.
WHERE: PRE-WORK BRIEFING LOCATION - Pinellas Trail south side of intersection at Florida Avenue and Orange Street.
We are looking for volunteers to help plant 25 trees across the village to begin to bring back the natural beauty of Ozona.
These trees will support shady streets and trails, lower temperatures along those areas, improve wind mitigation, reduce flooding, improve local air quality, improve noise mitigation, support local birds and increase the quaintness of our quaint little village.
We are planning to plant 16 Live Oaks, 8 Youpon Holly's and 1 Bald Cypress in the following locations:
1. Pinellas Trail south side of intersection at Florida Avenue and Orange Street
2. Orange Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
3. Ozona Community Church on Pennsylvania Avenue
We will need people to support the following activities:
1. Hole diggers / fillers
2. Stake drivers & tie offs
3. Mulchers
4. Golf cart drivers to shuttle from meeting area to planting locations.
5. Watering - THANKS TO SUNRISE IRRIGATION and JOE SWETT FOR TAKING ON THIS TASK FOR THE FIRST 60 DAYS!!!
A HUGE Thank You in advance for your time and assistance with volunteering to help make Ozona more beautiful!!!
Sincerest Gratitude,
OVIS Board
UPDATE:
On Saturday, July 8th, Ozona had its tree canopy planting event. OVIS sponsored the event with 30 people participating in the planting that day. The purpose of the program is to proactively plant community trees as other trees in the community are either dying or being removed due to construction.
Skip LeFleur organized the program for OVIS. OVIS funded the purchase of 25 trees (in 30-gallon containers). John Thurmond of Honey Do Lawn Care provided transportation with his landscaping trailer to get the trees from St. Petersburg to Ozona. Joe Swett of Sunrise Irrigation provided his large watering truck for these plantings. Boen's Tree Service delivered mulch to the sites for the plantings. The plantings were on Pennsylvania by the Church, at the southwest corner of Orange and Pennsylvania, and with the signature site receiving most of the trees along the Pinellas Trail, just south of Florida Avenue. Pinellas County staff were very helpful in making this event happen by providing assistance and cooperation.
OVIS is considering this as an ongoing project with follow-up discussions as to how to do this. Below are some of the photos captured from this event. If you have any additional photos of this event to share, you're welcome to submit them to James Wiesner (james.wiesner@yahoo.com), so that we can include them on the OVIS website. Thanks again for everyone's time and assistance to make this a successful event!
- Brian Smith, OVIS President
