Lake Baldwin – Analog Artist Digital World

Harbor Park at Lake Baldwin (4990 New Broad St, Orlando, Florida 32814). In the Fall of 2015, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer launched an ambitious goal to strengthen Orlando by building our urban forest and expanding the tree canopy.

To achieve this goal, the City of Orlando launched the ‘One Person, One Tree’ program, an effort to engage private residents in creating a cooler and greener future for The City Beautiful, and help grow our urban tree canopy to 40% by 2040.

At Walk For Trees, every registrant received one free tree from a selection of tree saplings. They were asked to
plant this tree in their favorite location so that the tree can make
Orlando a better place. Orlando is proud to be listed as a Tree City USA since 1976, named a Sterling Tree City USA in 2011 and received a Tree Growth Award every year since 1990.

April 10th, IDEAS For Us and the City of Orlando launched the inaugural “Walk For Trees event” around Lake Baldwin to support Orlando’s tree programs, with a goal of raising enough funds to plant 1,000 trees in Orlando.

The event had local celebrities, elected officials, nonprofits, food trucks, and more.

It was a beautiful day. I soaked in the sun as I sketched the Orlando Philharmonic musicians who performed that morning. $30 Tickets were available for a 5K walk around the lake with proceeds going to IDEAS for Us. IDEAS works to solve environmental problems on campuses and in communities around the World. Since 2008, they have been supporting people and developing their ideas into solutions that solve the environmental crisis. Their approach to sustainability focuses on five key areas to catalyze local action.Those are: Energy, Water, Food, Waste and Ecology.

The Jingle Bell Run / Walk took place early in the morning Saturday December 18th. A section of Broad Street was blocked off where all the runners gathered. I knew I was in the right place when I heard loud Christmas music. Many runners were festively dressed in red and green. The group I decided to sketch were wearing shopping bags that said, “Do not peek.” The bags had Santa’s and snowmen as decoration. Apparently parrot heads were a big sponsor of the event. One man wore an amazing parrot costume that made him look like a macaw. Some people jogged down side streets to stay warm and everyone stretched their calves and midsections. There were more than a few dogs there as well and they had costumes as well. When the starting horn sounded I was still busy sketching, as usual struggling to keep up with the fast pace of life.

Funds raised by the event went to the Arthritis Foundation.I was walking back to my truck when the first runners crossed the 5K finish line. I drove around Lake Baldwin which allowed me to watch the runners on the course. It started to rain and I found the roads to bring me home.