You could say the community association and kids within FivePoint’s Great Park Neighborhoods (GPN) are “exchanging pleasan-trees” through a new program that invites young residents to adopt one of the community’s beloved heritage trees.
Recognizing both the aesthetic beauty and the environmental benefits trees provide, FivePoint’s Joint Venture has preserved more than 600 heritage trees (and counting as the community grows) that have since been replanted throughout individual GPN neighborhoods as part of the former military base conversion. These signature trees beautify the community and improve quality of life. Now, they have sentimental value as well.
Since its launch in spring of 2021, more than 330 children 18 and under have been assigned a tree and received information of its location. Participants name their tree, visit it, take a photo and share the meaning behind its name. The stories behind them are a mix of fun, heartwarming and inspirational.
Two-year-old Oliver & Kesler named their tree “Louie” after their great grandfather (a World War II veteran) and grandfather (a Vietnam veteran) who both served in the Marine Corps. The boys’ great grandfather flew in and out of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro (which eventually became Great Park Neighborhoods) during his tenure in the Marine Corps. Their grandfather also took the boys’ mother to several air shows on the base.