The

seeds of friendship planted two months ago by

students at Fayette County Middle School took

root and flowered Monday when a French delegation

arrived at the school to accept four of

approximately 5,106 trees procured by the

students' efforts and headed for the Palace of

Versailles and surrounding countryside.

About

10,000 trees, many of them dating back to the

18th and 19th centuries, were destroyed at the

palace in a major winter storm Dec. 26.

Huber

Astier, president of Versailles, received four

saplings in a morning ceremony in the school

gymnasium. He was accompanied by Jean-Paul

Monchau, consul general of France, and two

gardeners from Versailles.

He

referred to the students' gifts as "Trees of

life and trees of friendship." "We will

plant the first trees on the 20th of March, the

first day of spring," he said. On hand to

help with the planting will be four Fayette

Middle School students and their teacher, who

will fly to Paris this Saturday courtesy of Air

France.

Amy

Bloomfield, Sara Keene, Mary Moore and Mandi

Woodruff, accompanied by teacher Carol Pruett,

were chosen to represent their school and country

based on original essays explaining why they

would like to be a part of Franco-American

history. "By planting trees, I feel we are

planting something else - hope. I am excited to

give my generation a better hope for the

future... you are also giving us a chance to

plant a friendship," wrote Amy Bloomfield.

Fayette Middle School was named in honor of

General LaFayette and the winter disaster was

felt personally by students in the school.

Through various student council projects,

approximately $600 was raised for the replanting

effory.

"There

is always a good thing in everything that

happens," Monchau told the students. He

spoke of the "long tradition of friendship

between your country and my country" and the

long-standing alliance between them, starting

with France's involvement in the American

Revolution. "Today we gather in a moment in

which students give another example, another

instance of friendship. The people of France are

touched by your gesture. Thank you all for what

you are doing."

The

historical significance of the six large and 100

small trees purchased by The Scotts Company from

American Forests was explained by AF

representative Jeff Meyer.

"The

first tree, the largest, is a 14-year-old, a

tulip poplar." He explained it was "an

offspring" of a tree planted by George

Washington at Mt. Vernon that was nurtured at

AF's nursery. There are 20 such trees in

existence, according to Meyer.

George

Washington tulip poplars can be found at the

White House and Mt. Vernon, and now at Fayette

Middle School where one was planted Monday. Two

of the thousands of trees destroyed at Versailles

were tulip poplars that George Washington

presented in thanks to France for the nation's

support during the American Revolution. Six other

trees will be loaded onto an Air France jet and

be flown to Versailles. AF "catalogs trees

that are important to American history,"

Meyers explained.

Another

"offspring tree" comes from a

"LaFayette" sycamore which stands on

the Brandywine Battlefield in PA. This tree is

believed to have shaded LaFayette at the time of

the revolution.

The

planting of the tulip poplar in front of Fayette

Middle was ceremonially French. Prior to setting

the tree in the ground, the Paris-bound students

placed a champagne bottle containing a program

from the day's event and a coin bearing the year

2000 in the hole, in time capsule tradition.

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