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Carey Hammett has been a long-time volunteer activist in our community and has led the way for innovative educational programs, tree regulations and protection, beautification projects and made a tremendous difference in our community.  A member of the Old Metairie Commission and founder of Friends of Jefferson the Beautiful, Carey Hammett, realized that our community was losing trees and at the time there was a lack of education on how to care, protect and save trees and what their value meant to one's property. 

From this insight, she founded Friends of Jefferson the Beautiful in 1997 and worked to raise  funds to offer a one day conference to educate professionals and our community on the care and preservation of tree canopy in the urban landscape, and Tree School was formed. The mission of Tree School was to educate professionals in the construction industry on the proper way to save trees and the economic value they have to one’s property. She worked tirelessly to raise funds so this one day conference would be free
to all those who attended. It started at the parish library and has now grown to nearly 300 participants, since its inception 23 years ago. Each year for the past 23 years, Carey has chaired this event, secured sponsors and nationally
recognized speakers from throughout the country and worked to promote this outstanding program. The results of this endeavor have been proven. Regulations are in place for construction and the impact of trees to one's property value. These regulations are a direct result of much of the work Carey has done in our community. In addition to Tree School, Carey has been involved in many organizations and made beautification of our parish a top priority.  In November of 2023, the Board of Directors and membership formally changed the name of the annual tree school to The Carey Hammett Tree School to recognize her for her many years of tireless work.

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