Rotary District 7450, representing 50 Southeast Pennsylvania Rotary clubs, and the PA Horticultural Society are partnering on a large-scale Earth Day service project to plant 80 trees in Upper Merion Township’s Bob White Park in Montgomery County
The project will help International Rotary achieve its goal of planting one tree for each Rotarian worldwide-- 1.2 million trees!
The Rotary District approached PHS for assistance because the 190-year-old nonprofit organization coordinates volunteer tree plantings of nearly 2,000 trees in the 5-county Southeastern Pennsylvania region each year.
Bob White Park is an open space that is highly used by the community. A hillside along the edge of the park was inundated by invasive species: multiflora rose, Tartarian honeysuckle, and stilt grass among others.
For the past two summers, Upper Merion Township has hired the services of a squad of goats to feast upon the invasives. The goats have done a fabulous job of clearing the area, and now the Rotary Club project will start the important process of reforestation.
Tree species that are appropriate for the site will be selected, primarily native shade and understory species.
Doug Klepfer, coordinator of the Plant-a-Tree project, met with representatives of the PHS Sustainable Communities Tree Team and PHS Development to create the Rotary Tree Fund Campaign to support the planting of the 80 trees.
Volunteers from all District Clubs are being recruited to help with the effort on Sunday, April 22 – coincidentally, Earth Day!
Significant among the species choices will be two flowering cherry trees to be planted at the foot of the hill to commemorate the 45-year partnership between the Ardmore Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Tokyo.
The Ardmore club sent dogwood trees for the Imperial Garden in Tokyo and Tokyo Rotarians sent cherry trees for the Sensory Garden in Wynnewood Valley Park – gestures of goodwill between the two countries.
Upper Merion Township is honored to be the recipient of trees that will be planted with funds that the Tokyo club has raised for this project.
[Note: Ask your local Rotary club if they need new partners to help meet their tree planting goal.]
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