Trees for Christian
A Samprasfanz Gift to Baby Sampras
After the joyful birth of Pete and Bridgette’s first child last November, members discussed what gift Samprasfanz could send him. It’s not easy to think of presents for someone who will never want for any material thing.
For several years I have been donating to the Woodland Trust, for trees to be planted in new woodlands created by them, and ‘giving’ the trees as gifts. Certificates are sent to the person nominated, stating how many trees have been planted in their name and where they are. Re-forestation is vitally important for the global environment: many disasters such as soil erosion and even climate change have resulted from millions of trees being lost every year, in the wake of increasing development. So I made the suggestion that we might donate some trees for Christian. These would be a living, growing gift which hopefully would prove fascinating to a little boy when he was old enough to understand. An added attraction would be that the Woodland Trust’s Estate in Kent is only about 30 miles from Wimbledon, and therefore it would be feasible for the Sampras family to visit Christian’s trees some time when they were in England for The Championships. What fun he could have, locating his very own trees from the map, trying to count them, and measuring his growth against theirs!
I was delighted when my suggestion was agreed on and I was asked to organise the project. Once people had made a commitment, they then had to send me the money for the trees donated and a personal greeting to go with their gift. Most people lead such busy lives, and there were delays due to people being away or offline for a while, falling ill, or - in the every day rush of living - just forgetting. But they could rely on me reminding them – again and AGAIN if necessary!
Eventually I had everything together, and was thrilled to be able to send off the £400 (US$650 approx.) which we raised. For this amount we were able to dedicate a piece of woodland to Christian with 40 trees in numbered plots, and I hope you agree that the certificate sent to him looks quite impressive. This was accompanied by a list of the personal messages from those who donated to the project; information about the estate and the type of trees planted; a map showing how to find the estate, as well as the exact location of Christian’s trees; and a covering letter from myself on behalf of the Group.
During these long months when we have been waiting and hoping for Pete to play, it helped to take my mind off depressing thoughts of the dreaded ‘R’ word by getting involved in organising our gift for Christian. I am grateful to everyone who participated, and also to those who for various reasons ould not do so, but showed their interest and support. This is the kind of joint venture, of we Fanz coming together for a common purpose in the name of Pete, and now his son, which sets this Group apart from mere message boards and other fan sites. SAMPRASFANZ ARE A FAMILY and as such we have sent our gift to THE SAMPRAS FAMILY. I do hope they will like it, and that we may learn of Christian’s reaction when he is older.
Related Links:
A visit to Christian Charles Sampras’ Woodland
by Cynthia Smith and Jane Nixon in 2004
Bridgette's Letter
Acquired by the Woodland
Trust in 1997, Hucking Estate in Kent covers over 580 acres bordering the
North Downs Way. It affords stunning views from the edge of the North Downs,
south towards Maidstone and beyond across the Kentish Weald. Previously
a combination of semi-natural ancient woodland and arable land, the re-creation
of grassland and wildflower meadows will offer tremendous conservation benefits
to a large number of flora and fauna. Since 1908 over 2,500 metres of hedgerows
have been destroyed and even since 1961 25 hectares of woodland was lost
from the Hucking Estate. Using regionally collected seed, hedgerows have
been planted along some of the original field boundaries, creating a network
of small fields and compartments. Many native hedgerow species have been
planted, including field maple, hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel.