Elmer the Elm Tree
Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board – I created Elmer the Elm Tree® 37 years ago when I was assigned a public service project (with a very small budget) to spread information about Dutch elm disease. That summer in the Twin Cities, one could hear chain saws in every neighborhood all day long. Many people actually thought they should cut down healthy elms to slow the spread of the disease.
I sketched Elmer and sold the idea that creating a positive "spokestree" could reach thousands and give the media something newsworthy to photograph. Then I hired a costume designer to create a "walk-in" elm tree costume. Elmer the Elm led the Minneapolis Aquatennial Parade that year and became a local media star and presence on the Nicollet Mall. When the tall, thin young man inside the costume felt faint and had to be unzipped and refreshed by his handler, a photographer snapped the event and Elmer appeared on the front page of Minneapolis Star & Tribune — above the fold! That was his first of many media appearances.
Money can't buy press coverage like that.
Nearly four decades later, Elmer, now in his fourth or fifth walk-in costume, is still on the job for the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, visiting schools and parks and parades, passing out leaflets and spreading the word on how to save healthy trees.
Read and learn more about Elmer at http://www.minneapolisparks.org, Wikipedia, and social media sites.
