The small community of Vernonia, in the northwest corner of Oregon, is home to some of the fastest-growing trees in the world. The Douglas firs that populate this region near Oregon’s Coast Range grow fast and tall.
Recently, Michael Calhoun decided his hometown should be the home to at least one more tree: one with a special story.
Last summer, Vernonia city officials planted a seedling in Ora Bolmeier Park, joining 47 other communities in Oregon as hosts of Hiroshima peace trees.
Hideko Tamura-Snider created the project to plant these trees around the state. As a 10-year-old, Hideko lost her mother in the World War II atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Hideko survived the bombing and eventually immigrated to Medford, Oregon. She wrote a children’s book, “When a Peace Tree Blooms,” about her experiences and helped start the One Sunny Day Initiative in 2007. The initiative aims to educate the public about the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons and plants seeds of peace, hope and reconciliation among people of the world.
To mark the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing in 2017, One Sunny Day Initiative partnered with Japan-based Green Legacy Hiroshima to send seeds from trees that survived the atomic bombing, known as hibakujumoku, to communities around the world.
Oregon received some of those seeds, which have since sprouted. The seedlings are cared for with the help of Jim Gersbach from the Oregon Department of Forestry.
When Michael learned of the project, he began working to get one of these exceptional trees planted in Vernonia.
“I thought this would be a great addition to our community,” he says.
Michael is a graduate of Vernonia High School and the University of Oregon. He works for the Oregon Environmental Council and was recently elected to the Columbia Water and Soil Conservation Board. Michael closely follows environmental issues across the state.
“I sought this out because I thought the story was incredible—about a survivor who is still with us today, who is trying to share her story so an event like this doesn’t happen again,” he says. “This story seems to resonate with everyone because it is a story about resiliency—about having something horrible happen but then changing it for the better.”
Fifty-three peace tree seedlings are planted in public places in communities across Oregon. Hiroshima peace trees live at schools, colleges, cemeteries, churches, arboretums and parks.
When Hideko, now in her late 80s, learned how many communities in her adopted home of Oregon were planting the trees, she wrote that the project “filled me with joy, remembering the long journey for both the tree and myself. Thank you, people of Oregon, for your enduring faith in the future, in the resilience of life.”
Naoto Shigehisa , Japanese business support officer for the Consular Office of Japan, joined Vernonia citizens for a dedication ceremony on August 27, 2022. Jim, being a caretaker for the seedlings, also took part in the ceremony.
“Former enemies can show that they can live in peace and show that they can be the closest of allies,” Jim says. “Thatshould give us all hope. The residents of Vernonia now have this living symbol of resilience and hope for the future.”
At the close of the ceremony, each attendee was given a chance to water the tree and have a personal connection to its growth in the community.
Michael says attending the Youth Energy Seminar camp as a sophomore in high school—a weeklong leadership program teaching youth how to get involved in their community—played a big role in his life. He was selected through his local electric utility, West Oregon Electric Cooperative.
“I think that training helped me in this project because I learned at an early age I could make a difference,” he says.
Jim recently presented Michael with an Oregon Urban and Community Forestry Award for his effort with the project.
This spring, Dave Hedberg—an independent filmmaker documenting the story of the Hiroshima peace trees in Oregon—was in Vernonia to film Michael and hear his story. Dave has interviewed Hideko and will travel to Japan with Jim in November to see the parent trees of Oregon’s peace trees.
“The meaning of peace in these trees and the symbolism of them takes on different forms in different communities,” Dave says.