‘Listening Trees’ come to Winslow

Published 10:24 am Friday, July 25, 2014

Bainbridge residents have probably noticed several trees ornamented with paper tags around the community.

Virginia Mason Bainbridge Island Medical Center recently stationed these “Listening Trees” outside its downtown center, located at 380 Winslow Way East, and around Winslow. Each tree holds an open-ended question or statement intended to generate responses from the community.

Passersby are encouraged to fill out conversation tags in response to each tree’s prompt, such as, “I am inspired by…” or “I value my health because…” Tags may be signed by the participant, or left anonymous.

The trees, also located at Winslow Green, Winslow Mall, Waterfront Community Center and at the Waterfront Park during Movies in the Park (Aug. 8, 15 and 22), will be displayed through Labor Day. At the end of the demonstration, the trees will be donated to the community.

“This is a fun way for everyone to express themselves and be part of an exciting summer event in our community,” said Andrew Baylor, director of Virginia Mason Bainbridge Medical Center.

“This is much bigger than health care. We’re convening a conversation across the community about living well that gets more interesting with each person’s voice.”

Virginia Mason is a local nonprofit health care system designed to administer quality care to the Pacific Northwest. Its Bainbridge Island Medical Center offers a panorama of services, including cardiology, orthopedics, hematology-oncology, digital mammography and endocrinology.