Spill the Tea for Trees: Helping plant beauty in Cheyenne, one tree at a time

May 24—Susan Allen, owner of The Hawthorn Tree cafe, spent her first year of college in Kentucky, home of the Kentucky Derby. During this annual event, there was Run for Rosé — an event in which restaurant workers would compete against each other in a relay race carrying a tray of wine.

So, Allen thought, why not do the same in Cheyenne with tea?

This idea led to the curation of a long-planned event: Spill the Tea for Trees.

In collaboration with Jackie Suntrup, the program coordinator for Rooted in Cheyenne, Allen got the ball rolling on the first-ever Spill the Tea for Trees event.

"We're a tea shop," Allen said. "'Spill the tea' kind of has an intonation of 'What's the latest?', or can be gossipy. But we're thinking more that it's like spreading the word about trees."

Rooted in Cheyenne is a nonprofit organization that provides discounted trees to Cheyenne residents to be planted in their yards. The organization has a team of planters who go to residents' houses to plant the tree of their choice — varieties of which change depending on the planting season — for just $50 per tree.

Spill the Tea for Trees will be held June 1 on 17th Street between Warren and Central avenues, and is free and open to the public. The event will feature around 12 different vendors, who will be selling everything from jewelry to baked goods, along with a raffle, music performances by Mason McTell of Cheyenne, Brandon Warburton of Cheyenne and Pleasure People of Casper, and the main attraction: the relay race.

The relay race will feature several teams of four running with cups of tea. The race route will have many obstacles, including trees. The team that ends the race with the shortest time and most tea left in their cup wins. The top three teams will receive varying amounts of prize money.

Last year, Allen collaborated with Rooted in Cheyenne for an indoor benefit concert, during which visitors were "spilling out onto the streets," Allen said. This inspired her to curate an event that would be bigger and better.

For Spill the Tea for Trees, Allen said she chose Rooted in Cheyenne to benefit because she owned a garden center nursery in Cheyenne for 20 years, so she has always been in the tree-planting industry.

There are a lot of things that come into play in Cheyenne that affect tree growth and sustainment, such as disease, inclement weather and other stressors. For this reason, Allen said she feels it's most important to support something her heart aligns with, which is trees.

Suntrup said Rooted in Cheyenne will have a booth at the event to educate people on tree-planting and caretaking. Members of Rooted will also be walking around, asking for donations.

"Unfortunately, in Cheyenne, you can't just plant a tree and walk away from it," Suntrup said. "That's just not how it works. There's a lot of care that has to go into these big, beautiful trees that we see around us. So that's one of our big opportunities here — just being able to provide that education and outreach to the community."

The average cost for a tree can be hundreds of dollars, Suntrup said. Because Rooted in Cheyenne plants upwards of about 300 trees a year, it adds up, so Suntrup said she feels very lucky to have the partnership with Allen and The Hawthorn Tree to have the opportunity to raise money and awareness.

The money raised for Rooted in Cheyenne through Spill the Tea for Trees will go toward tool costs and help offset the $50 cost of a tree for low-income Cheyenne residents who would like to take part in what the nonprofit stands for, Suntrup said. Suntrup and Allen are hoping to raise $5,000.

Since its start in 2017, Rooted in Cheyenne has planted almost 1,500 trees in the Cheyenne area.

"I think it's important that we plan for the future," Allen said. "My dad, who was a nurseryman for many years, always said that nobody ever plants a tree for themselves — it's always for future generations."

Aside from raising money for Rooted, Allen said she hopes this event will be good for businesses in the downtown area. Bringing the community downtown is always a good thing, she said.

Allen is still looking for more teams to register for the relay race. If interested, contact Allen at susan@hawthorntree.com or Suntrup at jsuntrup@cheyennecity.org, or visit hawthorntree.com and click the events tab. Registration is $80 per team.

Alyssa Crutcher is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's summer intern. She can be reached by email at acrutcher@wyomingnews.com. Follow her on X at @alyssasadie03.