Gentle reader,
Once upon a time there was a volunteer palm tree that grew on a dusty parking lot on the last scrap of natural hillside of Bunker Hill, the Victorian Downtown L.A. neighborhood lost to redevelopment.
A few years ago, a lady called Annette Zilinskas went out looking for bits of old Bunker Hill and found the tree, fell in love, and named her Sunshine.
But there was just one problem: the Colburn School planned to expand its campus, and the palm tree was in the way!
After Annette took us to meet Sunshine, we took a shine to this scrappy survivor, too, and started advocating with the Colburn and the City for this special tree to be protected, moved and replanted in the neighborhood. And this week, Sunshine was plucked from her dirt patch and began a new adventure.
You can learn more about Sunshine in our webinar, Saving the Sentinel Trees on Old Bunker Hill, Then and Now, which features Bunker Hill historian Nathan Marsak and palm expert Dr. Don Hodel.
Can Sunshine be saved (YES!) and where will she wind up?
Stay tuned to http://www.esotouric.com/savesunshine for updates.
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
Psst… If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar and a subscriber edition of this newsletter, vintage Los Angeles webinars available to stream, in-person tours and a souvenir shop you can browse in. We’ve also got recommended reading bookshelves on Amazon and the Bookshop indie bookstore site. You can share this post to win subscriber perks. And did you know we offer private versions of our walking and bus tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING BUS & WALKING TOURS
• The Run: Gay Downtown History (Sat. 3/23) • Franklin Village Old Hollywood (Sat. 3/30) • John Fante’s Downtown Los Angeles Birthday (Sat. 4/6) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown (Sat. 4/13) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher Cases (Sat. 4/20) • Downtown Los Angeles is for Book Lovers (Sat. 4/27) • Alvarado Terrace & South Bonnie Brae Tract (Sat. 5/4) • Charles Bukowski’s Westlake (Sat. 5/11) • Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice (Sat. 5/18) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (Sat. 5/25) • POP – Preserving Our Past (Sat. 6/1) • Westlake Park (Sat. 6/8) • Highland Park Arroyo (Sat. 6/15) • Film Noir / Real Noir (Sat. 6/29) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (Sat. 7/13) • Know Your Downtown L.A.: Tunnels To Towers To The Dutch Chocolate Shop (7/27)
Save Sunshine, the Last Palm on Old Bunker Hill