Please don’t call Security on me! Even though I’m wandering into yards with my binoculars, taking photos, staring at the trees, carrying a litter pickup stick and pulling down the branches so that I can wordlessly finger the needles or leaves. Hmmm. It sounds like I’m worth a phone call to Security. Please read on.

I’ve lived in Panorama just a year and a half, but have found my lifelong volunteer project here: updating the popular Tree and Shrub guide Jeff Sprengel developed. I have found that only a small number of the identified trees are still there. Time for an update.

With the expertise of retired Pan TV guru, Brian Hovis, the revised guide will be an app on your smart phone that will display a detailed map of our campus, filled with tree icons and the familiar blue “you are here” dot. If you don’t want to deal with smart phones, find a friend who wants to play with theirs and you can go for a tree walk together.

Brian and I bring to this project the desire to suggest walking routes and to tell the stories of the trees, like the Favorite Trees video on Kya does. You’ll click on the tree icon next to the blue dot and learn at least the identification of the tree you are standing next to.

 I have started collecting the data in our general use areas like Pan Hall, the Aquatic Center, the Auditorium area, and McGandy Park. As I move into the yards of houses and multiplexes, the Green Team encouraged me to introduce myself to you so you don’t call security. This summer Brian will be creating the app for our phones that will accept the data I am gathering.

This project will take the rest of my “mobile enough” life, one neighborhood at a time. The general use areas of the project might go live by the winter of 2025-2026.

I would appreciate it if you identify yourself to me if you have knowledge that you’d like to contribute to the project.  During the Sustainability Tour in May 2025 I spoke with Kathy Wolf, our staff botanist, about the project. Her expertise as well as our resident expertise both through Master Gardeners and professional pasts provide the confidence I need to delve into this project. When you see me in your neighborhood, say hi, share your stories, but please, don’t call the cops.

Kathe Smith, x5936

An excerpt from this article appeared in the July 2025 Panorama News.