THE LEAFLET

You may know the faces of our Tree Planting Crew or Education department, but there are a lot of other people that make the Casey Trees world go around. Case in point: the newest member of the Casey Trees family, Bookkeeper Melissa Ludwig. She’ grew up side-by-side with a special dogwood. Let’s learn more:

Casey Trees: One word that your friends would use to describe you:

Melissa Ludwig: Artsy

CT: We heard a rumor that you haven’t always been a bookkeeper. What were you doing before this?

ML: Alas, the rumor is true. I used to be in music. Most recently, I was on the administrative team at a school that gave private lessons, which wasn’t too arduous a leap to bookkeeping. One of the reasons for the change, though, was that I really wanted my work to be more eco-centric.

CT: What made Casey Trees the perfect fit?

ML: Everything! Of course, the fact that our work aids the environment in a broad sense, and also the more immediate gratification of improving livability in our city. Beyond that, the office culture is welcoming and fun, and personally, I feel like I fit in well as a vegetarian tree-hugger.

CT: Hometown? Favorite D.C. neighborhood?

ML: It turns out, my hometown is the same as where I currently reside – Rockville. Yes, a child of the Red Line. I’d have to say my favorite neighborhood is Chinatown, because of the wealth of great restaurants mixed in and around the galleries and museums nearby. I especially enjoy getting out to the Sculpture Garden if I’m feeling stifled by too much time indoors.

CT: Any special memory of or connection to trees?

ML: I remember one of my favorite projects in elementary school was a yearlong observation of a deciduous tree. We basically just had to draw the tree maybe once a month, and write a short description. By the end of the year, we wound up with a flipbook showing the change of the seasons. I chose a tiny little dogwood in the side yard of my childhood home, which has since matured into a young adult tree. I still like to check in on it every so often, since the two of us basically grew up together.