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Is that the Governors’ tree?
That’s the governors’ tree, old Ashcroft planted that.
It's done quite well for itself, hasn't it? It has, it's gotten pretty tall.
Mark: In the beginning there was a small group of fly fishermen
that fished a very small stream in Pulaski County.
We were really concerned about the amount of trash that was in the stream we were fishing,
so we started doing some cleanups.
There was a meeting or two of some like minded people in the Department of Conservation
and the Conservation Federation
discussing the idea of an adopt-a-stream program about that same time.
The next thing you know a program was born.
And within that first year and that was in 1989,
there were roughly a hundred teams signed up.
The first team then, that was Rubidoux Fly Fishers Association,
organized a large event to kind of celebrate this program.
and the Governor at the time, John Ashcroft, came
and actually got out in the stream with his shorts and tennis shoes
and picked up trash on a mile and a half of stream.
And it became a household name statewide,
and people started signing up.
Herb Turner: The program itself is really well founded.
It enables and empowers citizens;
there are many many citizen groups that were able to identify problems in their community.
It made a great awareness across the state.
And as that awareness grew,
people thought that they needed to be involved,
they wanted to take part in it somehow.
Joe Bachant: This was a blessing, but it was also a tremendous challenge,
and the idea from the very beginning
was that this is going to have to be a citizen enterprise.
We would be the facilitators;
we would help enable people to do their thing.
We would help show the way, but it was going to be their program.
You know, I see gifted people doing wonderful things
and to know that I helped in some small way to bring it about is…
It’s been a gift. It’s been a blessing.
Mark: When Governor Ashcroft was here, he said something,
and I won’t be able to quote him word for word so I’ll have to paraphrase it,
that I have never forgotten. And I think it really says something.
He was planting the tree in the Rubidoux park, city park there, the Waynesville City Park,
and he said to the crowd,
“You know, a few have you have started something here,
and you know you're successful
when tens of thousands follow what you have started.”
And you know what? They have.