Cherry blossoms add luster to D.C.

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By Stephanie Green

It's spring. Everything is blooming, especially the District's iconic cherry blossoms, and with them, opportunities to keep the city beautiful and celebrate culture in the District with the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival beginning Saturday.

The festival, which was expanded to a two-week celebration of all things spring in 1994, brings to the District an influx of more than a million admirers of the capital's beloved pink flowers.

Blossom worship got its start in 1935 as local civic groups commemorated the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Viscountess Chinda, the Japanese ambassador's wife, to first lady Helen Herron Taft as a symbol of friendship between Japan and the United States. In 1965, first lady Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 more trees. The United States reciprocated in 1981 by returning cuttings from the trees to Japanese horticulturists to replace trees in Japan that had been destroyed in a flood.

On April 4, Southwest Airlines Co. will present the National Cherry Blossom Parade, which runs along Constitution Avenue and is free and open to the public. The parade will bring to town "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek as grand marshal, and "American Idol" second-season finalist Kimberley Locke, disco diva Thelma Houston, Miss America Katie Stam and Disney Radio's Joey Page.

Diana Mayhew, the president of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, says that the festival is run by a handful of staffers who rely on private donations, corporate sponsors and local organizations to stay afloat.

"We have to start from scratch every year with the fundraising, but our goal is to showcase Washington as the place to be for spring," she says.

There are glamorous and simple ways to support the festival.

First, the glitz. On April 9, the Odyssey cruise ship is hosting a dinner dance onboard with American and Japanese dignitaries. The cost of the cruise, four-course dinner and open bar is $125.

In addition to taking in the views of the monuments and cherry trees on Hains Point, you can sample the latest beauty products of Shiseido Co. Ltd., the luxury-cosmetic company.

If cruising isn't your scene, you can wear your support by purchasing a 2009 commemorative pin online (www.nationalcherry blossomfestival.org) or at 22 local Borders Group Inc. stores. Hats, T-shirts, tote bags, posters and more cherry blossom jewelry also is available online, with proceeds going directly to the festival.

Ms. Mayhew says a portion of the funds raised by the events and the merchandise goes to the National Park Service's National Capital Region Cherry Tree Replacement Fund, an organization that maintains and replaces cherry trees in the area.

"Trees are a critical component of a beautiful and healthy city, and the cherry blossoms are a wonderful symbol of what makes our nation's capital unique and handsome,"says Matthew M. McKenna, president and chief executive officer of Keep America Beautiful, the nation's largest volunteer community beautification program.

Mr. McKenna says the Prince George's County division of Keep America Beautiful will host a Great American Clean Up on April 18 where locals can pick up trash and plant flowers in their community. On April 25, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. will present a grant to Marvin Gaye Park in the District for a community garden center.

For more information about these events, call Keep America Beautiful at 202/577-6786. Visit www.nationalcherryblossom festival.org for more information about the festival.