Lobero Theatre Welcomes New Olive Trees

We heard you! The Lobero Theatre Foundation celebrates the arrival of two new olive trees, planted on Thursday, November 7, as replacements for those removed during Encore: Lobero construction due to their poor condition caused by a fungus in the soil. This posed a particular challenge to the Lobero­—not only to find suitably sized replacements, but also to make sure that the new trees will be resistant to the Verticillium that infected their predecessors. Lobero Theatre Board member Tim Casey and his wife Louise stepped up to the task, traveling all the way to Visalia in order to find the perfect trees.

“We as the Board took this responsibility very seriously; we knew the trees were very important. To be able to honor the community’s wishes and preserve this aspect of the Lobero’s history was the best possible outcome.”

– Tim Casey, Lobero Theatre Foundation board member

Bob Cunningham, of Arcadia Studio Landscape Architecture, reports that the newly planted olive trees are of the Ascolano variety, which is the oldest Verticillium-resistant variety in terms of its presence in the United States. The larger tree trunk has the same knobbed characteristics of the previous tree, and enjoys a healthy height and span on the Lobero lawn. The ages of both trees are believed to be near 75 years old with the larger of the two closer to 100 years old.

Encore: Lobero is a $7 million capital campaign undertaken by the Lobero Theatre Foundation Board of Directors for preservation and maintenance work including new seats, improved air flow, expanded restrooms, and ADA compliance upgrades. Encore: Lobero continues 140-year tradition of the care and support of the Lobero Theatre from people in the community, including hundreds of donors and an all-volunteer Board of Directors. For more information, visit LovetheLobero.com.