NE

WS

VO

LU

ME

29

• F

AL

L2

00

6

Bulk rate

U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit #

12E

lkins Park, PA

Montg

om

ery Ave &

H

igh S

chool R

dP

O B

ox 1

1263

Elkins P

ark,PA

19027

215-7

82-8

082

ww

w.h

ighsch

oolp

ark.org

PA

GE

8

INS

IDE

...

• P

residen

t’s Message

• TreeV

italize Gran

t A

ward

ed•

PS

I Assessm

ent

at FHS

P•

Work

Party D

ates•

In You

r Back

yard

• From

Ou

r Intern

• A

nd more...

FH

SP

OF

FIC

ER

S

PR

ES

IDEN

T

Am

y SteffenEX

EC

UT

IVE V

ICE

PR

ES

IDEN

T

Caroline Stritzinger

VIC

E P

RES

IDEN

T

Clifford

Bassm

anT

REA

SU

RER

Alex Sluzas

CO

RR

ES

PO

ND

ING

SEC

RETA

RY

Ronna K

asselR

EC

OR

DIN

G

SEC

RETA

RY

June SiegelM

EM

BER

S A

T

LA

RG

E

Cynthia B

lackwood

David

Cohen

Diane E

hrichB

arry Magen

Margie Patlak

Kristina V

ictoreenA

DV

ISO

RY

B

OA

RD

Rosem

ary PorterE

vie Berger

Mark K

aplan

NEW

SLET

TER

Margie Patlak, E

ditorSue H

arvey, Design

TO

REA

CH

FH

SP

ww

w.highschoolpark.org

215-782-8082

Gard

en C

lub

Even

tsW

elcome back from

a hot and steamy, and slightly w

ater-logged sum

mer! W

hile your gardening tasks are winding

down w

ith the cooler weather, w

e hope you will join us at the

following G

arden Club events:

•W

ED

NE

SD

AY

, OC

T 1

8, 2

00

6

WIN

TER

GA

RD

ENIN

GB

YG

EOR

GE

PET

RO

POU

LOS

Elkins Park Library, 7 p.m.

Winter tim

e is garden time. Learn about plants that lend

winter interest to your garden. A

lso understand how to

maintain and clean up your garden in the w

inter.M

r. Petropoulos is the General M

anager for Fine Garden

Creations, Inc.

•W

ED

NE

SD

AY

, NO

V 2

9, 2

00

6

PO

TLU

CK

DIN

NER

AN

DS

LIDE

SH

OW

Steigerwald G

allery, 930 Stratford Ave. 7 p.m

.Bring a covered dish, relax and socialize w

ith fellow gar-

deners. Marc C

ortez and Tom Steigerw

ald, chairs of the

Garden C

lub, will present a slide show

of FHSP

mem

bers’gardens.

•D

ECEM

BER

HA

PPYH

OLID

AY

SN

OM

EETIN

G

•W

ED

NE

SD

AY

, JAN

17

, 20

07

FO

CU

SO

NF

ERN

SA

PRESEN

TAT

ION

BY

HILD

YE

LLIS

Elkins Park Library, 7 p.m.

Learn about the fascinating world of ferns w

ith Hildy

Ellis. In this slide presentation, Hildy w

ill discuss com-

mon and rare native fern species and their natural habi-

tats, provide identification tips, and highlight hardy fernsthat add texture and interest to the garden. Learn howferns reproduce w

ithout flowers, and learn w

hich havesurvived virtually unchanged since the tim

e of thedinosaurs.M

s. Ellis is the Education Coordinator at Bow

man’s H

illW

ildflower Preserve.

TreeVitalize g

rant

award

ed to

FHS

P!

(See P

age 4

)

Im

agine this: you’re the head of the children’s arts and crafts sectionat A

rts in the Park (AIP). You arrive early Sunday m

orning beforethe event to find out that the w

ater supply you need to wash the

brushes and hands of budding artists is not available and you havehundreds of children com

ing that day to paint. That’s what happened

to Cynthia B

lackwood

and Ryan H

eiser. Both have organized theC

hildren’s Crafts A

rea for Arts in the Park for several years. This year,

the trusty 55 gallon rain barrel, the tried-and-true water source each

year for the children’s crafts, broke right after it fell off its platform the

night before.O

thers might have panicked. N

ot them. C

ynthia, Ryan and count-less other volunteers dutifully lugged buckets back and forth from

theLittle D

ipper three times an hour so children could paint their birdhouses, tee shirts and do their veg-

etable prints. These AIP

superheroes saved the day, as far as the kids were concerned.

But Cynthia and Ryan aren’t the only superheroes w

hose behind-the-scenes efforts made A

rts in thePark a success this year. The superhero w

ork actually starts beginning in early April, w

hen Nancy

Cortez

and Ronna K

assel, our volunteer coordinators for the past few years, begin their phone cam

-paign and outreach to schedule the over 170 volunteers needed to m

anage this event. So many volun-

teers is not easy to come by, but that’s w

hat we need to run the children’s crafts, face painting, m

em-

bership table, raffle, set up, donation collections, check-in, etc. So how do w

e get 170 volunteers? Nancy

and Ronna use their superpow

ers (and much of their free tim

e) to cajole anyone they can find answer-

ing their phones to donate a few hours for A

IP.A

nother superhero is Bill W

ilken. Bill has been around longer than any of us and knows the logis-

tics and operational details better than anyone. After taking a year off, Bill offered to handle ordering

equipment, tables, tents and supplies, coordinating w

ith the Township

and inventorying, updating and ordering new signs. W

ithout Bill’sefforts, w

e wouldn’t have the basic supplies w

e need to run a fair. M

any of you probably enjoyed the free live entertainment at

the park, but few of you probably realize that m

aking this happenis a huge job that involves recruiting, auditioning and schedulingm

usicians, and coordinating arrangements w

ith our sound engi-neer. A

rts in the Park would not be w

hat it is without the participa-

tion of talented young musicians from

the area, and superhero Mark K

aplan, a long time park restoration

volunteer and former Board director, handles this m

agnificently. This year, after being concerned aboutthe extrem

e heat last year, Mark ordered a special stage tent to shield the m

usicians from the sun.

And w

e can’t forget that superhero Marc C

ortezw

ho is so good with his hands that he m

ade hun-dreds of PV

C pipe birdhouses for children to paint in the C

raft area, and what a hit they w

ere! He also

created a map to scale of the park so w

e could lay out the booths more accurately, helped us organize

our check-in process, put up shelves in the shed for the signs, and got us walkie-talkies so w

e could com-

municate better throughout the day.

Continued on page 3

AR

TS

IN T

HE

PA

RK

Su

perh

eroes Save th

e Day!

By Caroline Stritzinger*

Cynthia B

lackwood assists a young artist.

Local band Disco Stew

performs at A

IP.

As you read through this new

sletter, you will learn

about many recent achievem

ents of the Friends ofH

igh School Park (FHSP). A

s the President of thisorganization, I am

acutely aware of not only w

hat we have

accomplished, but how

we have done so, and how

much m

orew

e could achieve with the right resources. W

ith the exceptionof paid sum

mer internships, all of our w

ork has been accom-

plished by volunteers.Board and com

mittee chairs have acted as a quasi-staff

group, with each director or chair m

anaging a discreet set ofresponsibilities. A

s volunteers, we m

anage a host of tasksincluding: paying the bills and bookkeeping, inviting schoolsand com

munity groups to volunteer, planning and supervis-

ing volunteer days, producing the newsletter, m

anaging adatabase and m

embership process, producing and staffing

Arts in the Park, fundraising, and, at the center of it all, plan-

ning and carrying out the restoration of native ecosystems in

the park. This is the way m

any non-profit groups begin. Sustaining an all-volunteer organization is quite a feat.

Especially when our core volunteers have lives filled w

ithw

ork, family and other com

mitm

ents. Clearly, w

e haveproven our viability and usefulness to the com

munity. W

edeserve a huge round of applause for our success, w

hich hasbeen built on the backs of volunteers!

But now w

e are excited about taking the next step in ourdevelopm

ent, which w

ill be to hire a part-time adm

inistrativestaff person. A

n administrative coordinator w

ill allow us to

centralize our files and systems and be m

uch more efficient.

This staff person will also relieve board and com

mittee chairs

from having to focus on the day-to-day operations of H

ighSchool Park. Instead they can set their sights higher and focuson fundraising, long-term

planning and other strategic issuesthat w

ill take FHSP

further towards m

eeting our goal ofenhancing the neighborhood by restoring and m

aintaining thenatural beauty of H

igh School Park for the enjoyment of the

comm

unity. Volunteers will continue to be the m

ainstay of theFH

SP. But they will have m

uch more support for their efforts

with a staff person on w

hom they can rely.

We’re

pleased to

be able

to afford

this change.

Traditionally, our income has com

e from m

embership dues

and Arts in the Park, both possible because of the generosity

of you, our mem

bers. This year, we supplem

ented our income

with a sizable TreeV

italizegrant.

This third source of income, grants,

is a tremendous boon. W

ith threesources of funds, w

e can affordsom

e staff expenses. In addition, anadm

inistrative staff

person w

illposition us to increase all threestream

s of revenue.H

iring administrative staff is a

welcom

e milestone in our m

aturityand developm

ent and a vital step insustaining a viable future for FH

SP.This builds on the positive experiences w

e’ve had with hiring

summ

er interns over the past three summ

ers. The interns haverequired a lot of supervision, but they give us the m

uch-need-ed groundw

ork for our park maintenance during the sum

mer

months. Likew

ise, an administrative coordinator w

ill providethe necessary groundw

ork for the core operations of theFriends. W

e will continue to be a com

munity based organiza-

tion, led and supported by volunteers. But we w

ill be a more

effective and secure operation with adm

inistrative support. Soin the com

ing months as the grow

ing season of the park comes

to a close, we hope to grow

as an organization with the help of

our new adm

inistrative coordinator!

PA

GE

2

Presid

ent’s R

eport

By Am

y Steffen

Volunteers continue to be H

ighSchool P

ark’s biggest asset.

PA

GE

7

Anyone w

ho has ever weeded or tended a backyard

knows it is a hard and tim

e-consuming job that can be

frustrating because you never seem to get everything

done that needs to get done. Now

imagine if the backyard is a

10-acre park that is continually being invaded by troublesome

weeds. N

ot only do you have to replace such invasive alienplants w

ith native ones, but you have to plant, water, and m

ulchthose native plants once planted so they are off to a good start.W

ith that in mind, you can now

imagine how

we at Friends of

High School Park feel w

hen a bevy of eager and enthusiasticstudents or congregants arrive to volunteer at the park. (You canhear the halleluiah’s all the w

ay out in Abington Tow

nship!)Without

these volunteers, High School Park w

ould not be able to thriveand be shaped into a w

onderful restored natural environment

that can be enjoyed by the neighborhood (dogs included). So abig thank you goes out to our recent volunteers at the park:

• Our C

ore Volunteers

help plan our volunteer days andsupervise sm

all teams. M

any thanks to these energetic,fun, and dedicated Friends: Beth A

ronson, Rabbi D

anielA

ronson, Brad Baker, Cynthia Blackw

ood, Diane Ehrich, Jo

Fagin, Mark K

aplan, Margie Patlak, R

osemary Porter, C

JSm

ith, Am

y Steffen, Linda Stern, Caroline Stritzinger,

Kristina V

ictoreen and, Mauricio W

ilk.

• Kol A

micongregants young and old cam

e in May and w

erepleased to discover the w

ood phlox, ferns, and Heuchera

they planted the previous year by the Mill St. entrance had

returned. To help these plants along, the congregantsw

eeded and mulched this area, as w

ell as pulled invasivegarlic m

ustard and knotweed from

adjacent areas of thepark

• Six motivated students from

Adath Jeshurun H

ebrewSchool

spent a morning of com

munity service at the park

in May. These students

weeded and m

ulched thearea

by the

Mill

St.entrance, as w

ell as plantedtw

o native shrubs there.

• Alarge group of ener-

getic S

aligman

M

idd

leS

chool

students and

sixteachers joined our C

ore

Volunteers for a morning of volunteer service in the park on

one of the last days of school. These hard workers rem

oved20 bags of invasive garlic m

ustard, wrapped tree trunks to

protect them from

damage from

mow

ers and weed w

hack-ers, and pulled out English ivy from

selected areas.

• About 50 good-natured teens from

the Calvary A

ssembly

of God

in Wyncote cam

e on a hot July morning to w

ork inthe w

oods, cutting English ivy and removing invasive trees

and shrubs. They also mulched new

ly planted ferns nearthe rotary garden. These teens w

ere doing a week of serv-

ice at different projects in Montgom

ery County and accom

-plished a trem

endous amount at H

igh School Park. One

girl said this was her favorite site at w

hich to volunteer--shew

anted to come back w

ith a book and read by the creek.Thanks

also to

John H

oover, D

irector of

Parks and

Recreation, for referring the youth group to us.

• Eighty enthusiastic Arcadia freshm

en studentsand 6 core

volunteers spent a morning at the end of A

ugust on a num-

ber of projects including installing cribbing to stabilize oneof the paths in the w

oods, removing tw

o large patches ofinvasive crow

n vetch from the m

eadow, rem

oving a hiddenstand of Japanese knotw

eed, and cutting and digging outdozens of invasive shrubs and trees and vines from

thew

oods and the old woody the site for planting native trees

per the TreeVitalize grant. A

rcadia students spend one dayof their orientation providing com

munity service and have

visited our park for many years.

Man

y Th

ank

s to Recen

t Park

Volu

nteers

By Margie Patlak

FH

SPreq

uires a p

art-time

AD

MIN

IST

RA

TIV

EC

OO

RD

INA

TO

R.

Mu

st be w

ell organ

ized an

d d

etail orien

ted. W

ill man

age d

atabase,

mem

bersh

ip, filin

g, corresp

ond

ence,

volu

nteer ou

treach an

d related

tasks.

8-hrs p

er week

at $16-18/h

r. Sen

d resu

me to F

HS

P, P

O B

ox 11263, E

lkin

s Park

, PA19027.

AD

MIN

IST

RA

TIV

EC

OO

RD

INA

TO

R

�N

OW

H

IR

IN

G�

Wan

t To Party?

Here are the dates for the upcom

ing work parties w

ehave scheduled to plant trees at H

igh School Park:

• Saturday O

ctober 149-12 noon

• Sunday O

ctober 159-12 noon

• Sunday O

ctober 151-4 p.m

.• Saturday

October 21

1-4 p.m.

• Sunday O

ctober 229-12 noon

• Saturday O

ctober 281-4 p.m

.• Sunday

October 29

9-12 p.m.

We’d love to have you join us then! Sign up w

ith C

ynthia at 215-379-0863or volunteer@

fhsp.org.M

eet at the toolshed.Saligm

an Middle School students w

ork at the park.

Volunteers for a morning of volunteer service in the park

on one of the last days of school. These hard workers

removed 20 bags of invasive garlic m

ustard, wrapped tree

trunks to protect them from

damage from

mow

ers andw

eed whackers, and pulled out English ivy from

selectedareas.

• About 50 good-natured teens from

the Calvary A

ssembly

of God

in Wyncote cam

e on a hot July morning to w

ork inthe w

oods, cutting English ivy and removing invasive trees

and shrubs. They also mulched new

ly planted ferns nearthe rotary garden. These teens w

ere doing a week of serv-

ice at different projects in Montgom

ery County and accom

-plished a trem

endous amount at H

igh School Park. One

girl said this was her favorite site at w

hich to volunteer--she w

anted to come back w

ith a book and read by thecreek. Thanks also to John H

oover, Director of Parks and

Recreation, for referring the youth group to us.

• Eighty enthusiastic Arcadia freshm

en studentsand 6 core

volunteers spent a morning at the end of A

ugust on a num-

ber of projects including installing cribbing to stabilize oneof the paths in the w

oods, removing tw

o large patches ofinvasive crow

n vetch from the m

eadow, rem

oving a hiddenstand of Japanese knotw

eed, and cutting and digging outdozens of invasive shrubs and trees and vines from

thew

oods and the old woody the site for planting native trees

per the TreeVitalize grant. A

rcadia students spend one dayof their orientation providing com

munity service and have

visited our park for many years.

PA

GE

6P

AG

E 3

Mon

archs in

the M

eadow

By M

argie Patlak

Have you beenseeing a lot oforange

andblack m

onarch butter-flies w

afting their way

through High School

Park this year, or spot-ted their black, w

hite,and yellow

caterpillarcounterparts? W

e cer-tainly have, and give volunteers at H

igh School Park a deserv-ing pat on the back for saving the m

ilkweed plants that have

sprouted up naturally in the park, as well as for planting m

ilk-w

eed and butterfly weed in the hillside m

eadow. The leaves of

both plants are fodder for monarch butterfly caterpillars,

which only dine on species of the A

sclepiasgenus. It has prob-

ably also helped that for several years Friends of High School

Park volunteer Robin R

ifkin and but-terfly lady Judy Levicoff w

orked with

Elkins Park Middle School students

to raise monarch caterpillars and

release their butterflies into the park. A

ccording to

Mon

archW

atch,the butterflies are m

ore populous thisyear because of a larger than norm

alpopulation of m

onarchs that headednorth from

their wintering grounds

in Mexico. H

ere they encounteredexcellent w

eather and breeding conditions, which fostered

abundant offspring.To find out m

ore about monarchs and w

hat you can do tohelp them

thrive, go to ww

w.m

onarchwatch.org.

But talk about saving the day, consider superhero McK

enzieQ

uillion. Just when w

e were about to give up on being able to fill

a new trash and recycling team

we created, M

cKenzie, a graduat-

ing Cheltenham

High School senior, appeared a day or tw

o beforethe event. G

ranted, McK

enzie needed to complete his com

munity

service agreement, but he w

ent way beyond w

hat we ever could

have expected. He helped w

ith the early morning set-up on

Saturday and then was the last person to leave Sunday night! H

eeven brought his pal, H

aley, and together, the two of them

made

the rounds of the park and turned picking up trash into an oppor-tunity to m

ingle and see friends throughout the day. Smart guy!

Of course w

ithout the efforts of superhero Cliff B

assman,

our Sponsorship Chair, this event couldn’t even happen.

Despite having a busy business of his ow

n to run, each yearC

liff takes the time to contact local businesses and institutions

about sponsorship of Arts in the Park and alw

ays comes

through for us. This year, Cliff set a record by bringing in

$7500, a new sponsorship record for A

rts in the Park, andalm

ost half of our income. Thank you C

liff, and thank yousponsors: Einstein at Elkins Park, Jefferson H

ealth System, U

nionO

ne Insurance Group, W

iechart Realtors, Siegal and D

rossner,Yorktow

n, and Elkins Park Pharmacy.

Though I have only mentioned a few

people, I am very

grateful to everyone, all 170+ individuals that volunteer time

for this event. Your volunteer efforts are one of the things thatm

ake Arts in the Park so near and dear to us all. If you w

ereone of those people this year or in prior years—

thank you forcontributing your tim

e and energy to make this such a special

neighborhood event!H

ere’s a special thanks toour A

IPC

omm

ittee Volunteers:A

lex S

luzas-Finance;

Am

ySteffen, FH

SPBoard President

and m

ost helpful

advisor;B

enjam

in

Lad

en-Emcee

andEntertainm

ent Com

mittee, B

illW

ilken-Logistics;

CJ

Sm

ith-Plant Sale; C

liff Bassm

an-Sponsorships and AIP

Co-C

hair;C

ynthia Blackw

ood-Children’s C

rafts and Artist Selection

Com

mittee; D

avid Kaplan-Set U

p, Logistics and Check-In;

Dian

e E

hrich-Flyer

Distribution;

Jeremy

Birn

bau

m-

Entertainment; K

arin Kaplan-In-K

ind Donations &

Finance;

Karen

L

ecks-A

rtist Selection

Com

mittee;

Karl

Stark-

Entertainment C

omm

ittee, Linda Stern-Food Vendors; LindaT

homas-A

dministrative Support; M

ark Kaplan-Entertainm

entC

hair; Nancy C

ortez-Volunteer Coordinator; M

arc Cortez-

Volunteer Extraordinaire;

Peg

Mu

lligan-Artist

SelectionC

omm

ittee, Check-In &

Mem

bership volunteer; Ryan H

eiser-C

hildren’s Crafts &

Artist Selection C

omm

ittee; Ron

na

Kassel-Volunteer C

oordinator; Rose Sluzas-Lem

on stick andLem

onade Stand; and Sue Harvey-G

raphic Design.

* The author served as overall Chair of A

rts in the Park and Chair of the

Artist Selection C

omm

ittee.

An

d N

ow, From

Ou

r Su

mm

erIn

tern…

By N

oel Beyrer

Som

e of you may already know

me—

I am the person

who w

as working on the H

igh School Park grounds forthe m

ajority of this past summ

er. My nam

e is Noel

Beyrer, and I did a 12-week internship at H

igh School Parkthat ended in m

id-July. I am a third year student at Tem

pleU

niversity-Am

bler majoring in horticulture.

When I first started at the park, I thought, “W

hat have Igotten m

yself into?” The size of the park and the extent of theinvasive w

eeds were overw

helming. But once I figured out to

just tackle each area of the park piecemeal, m

y work becam

em

uch more bearable. Eventually, I began to enjoy the w

ork Iw

as doing, and have become quite fond of the park and the

people who use it. Local residents w

ould ask me daily w

hat Iw

as doing and why, som

e even giving suggestions on some

areas lacking attention and asking about native plants theycould use on their properties.

It was a busy sum

mer at the park w

ith most of the w

orkbeing done on the upper level. It started w

ith a quick springclean up for the festivities involving A

rts in the Park. Then thereal w

ork began with the rem

oval of invasive plants, thepruning of trees and shrubs, and m

ulching. I also used my

budding plant

expertise to

draw up a plan for a new

flowerbed

filled w

ith eye-

catching native plants by them

ain entrance where the brick

pathway starts.

I learned the most w

henthe botanist, Jack H

olt, fromBow

man’s

Hill

Wildflow

erPreserve cam

e and analyzedthe site. H

e identified many

plants that were a m

ystery to those of us at the park, andpointed out areas that are doing w

onderfully and those thatcould use a little m

ore attention next year. I also learned a lotabout native plant restoration from

Friends of High School

Park volunteers

and board

or form

er board

mem

bersR

osemary Porter, A

my Steffen and D

iane Ehrich, to whom

Iow

e a big thanks. My internship at H

igh School Park was a

growing experience both for m

e and the plants at the park!

Su

perh

eroes Save th

e Day!

Continued from

page 1

FHS

P M

ission Statem

entThe Friends of H

igh School Park is a non-profit volu

nteerorganization w

hose mission

is to create, manage and pre-

serve a viable native ecosystem in H

igh School Park for theenjoym

ent of the comm

unity, in cooperation with C

helten-ham

Township. W

e are dedicated to inspiring the comm

unityto connect w

ith others and the natural environment through

service and learning connected with the park.

Thank you to our recent new and renew

ing mem

bers:

Thank you’s also are due to Hal C

ohen, who m

ade a donation tothe park in m

emory of C

arl H. C

ohen, and Margaret M

ulligan,w

ho made a park contribution in m

emory of C

ynthia Malara.

Th

ank

You’s

Mary A

mar

Beth & D

an Aronson

Barbara & Thom

as BaleA

nnette BradleyBeth Brooks &

Bob Waterston

Barbara & Jeffrey Brow

nThe C

aroline Family

Hal C

ohenSheryl C

ohenR

obert DeLuca

Robin Eism

anJo FaganH

arriet & Juan G

ottschalkEm

ily & H

oward G

reenbergA

dolph Gross

Christie G

unter & Scott G

lasserBeth G

uthyA

yala & H

anoch Guy

Ruth H

eigesLynn &

Ivan Horn

Ruth K

ohnC

aryl & M

ichael Levin

Cheryl &

Barry Magen

Fay & C

arl Malissa

Stacey Meadow

sM

aria Mendez-A

rsitzR

ebecca Meyer

Margaret M

ulliganJeannette N

oorman

Lisa & M

ichael Osw

aldJulie PhillipsR

obin & M

ichael Silverman

Rochelle Sauber

Debra Silberg &

Mark N

ewm

anC

hana & Joan Sim

onSharee &

Jeffrey SolowA

nusuya & C

hamegow

da Thim

megow

daM

arie ValorisA

rlene & H

erbert Wartenberg

Jennifer Wasserm

anShelly &

Stephen Wolf

Shelly Zalesne

Lydia & Jam

es Zappacosta

CJ Sm

ith works at the A

IPplant sale.

Jack Holt escorts m

embers of FH

SP through

the park during our PSI survey.

The distinctive pods of m

ilkweed

plants.

Am

onarch butterfly at the FHSP

hillside meadow

.

PA

GE

4P

AG

E 5

Did you know

that white snakeroot, a native plant w

hichlines the w

oody paths in High School Park, killed A

beLincoln’s m

other? (It has a toxin which is passed to

humans through cow

s’m

ilk.)O

r did you know that the reason

why w

e have so many invasive w

hite mulberry trees in our area

is because they were introduced from

Asia to start a silk indus-

try, which failed? (Silkw

orms are picky eaters w

ho will only dine on

mulberry leaves.)

These were just a few

of the fascinating plant facts given tous on July 19th, w

hen mem

bers of the Park Managem

ent andR

estoration Com

mittee (PR

AM

) had the pleasure of accompa-

nying botanist Jack Holt through the m

eadows and w

oodlandsof H

igh School Park. The botanist visited the park, at ourrequest, in order to survey the current vegetation. The results ofhis findings w

ill be analyzed by Bowm

an’s Hill W

ildflower

Preserve, which developed the Plant Stew

ardship Index (PSI)for this region of Pennsylvania. The PSI is an analytical tool akinto a grade that w

ill allow us to survey and assess the status of

the native plant populations at High School Park. R

epeatedperiodically, the PSIs w

ill reveal progress in our restorationefforts m

uch like a series of report card grades. High School

Park has the honor of being the first site in the region to have aPSI done.

PRA

M requested this professional evaluation of H

ighSchool Park because w

e recognize the need for a baselineassessm

ent of the site in order to help us plan and carry out aneffective land m

anagement program

. According to Jack H

olt,m

eadow m

anagement is a new

science; there are few “rules” for

success. Consulting w

ith people experimenting in m

eadowm

anagement w

ill be an important step in gathering ideas.

The botanist stressed the importance of keeping invasive

plants in check so other native plants that are less “pushy” canthrive. O

ne way to keep invasive plants from

spreading is with

a simple tried-and-true m

ethod that has been used since ancienttim

es--pulling out the unwanted plants by the roots and dis-

posing of them. It requires a lot of

people power and persistence, but

it works, as evidenced by the rela-

tive absence of garlic mustard in

certain areas of the park (thanks tom

any volunteer “pullers” in early

and late spring), which

Holt noted. H

e also rec-om

mended w

e experi-m

ent with other types

of alien and invasiverem

oval techniques,

such as

intensiverepeated m

owing and

weed w

hacking.W

hen he was asked about the use of nursery cultivars of

native species, Holt did not recom

mend planting them

. He felt

they were w

eaker, and less likely to succeed. We w

ere surprisedto learn that som

e plants we thought w

ere native, such as cer-tain crabapple trees in the park, w

ere not, and that some plants

we thought w

ere alien invasives, such as the threeseed mercu-

ry, were actually native to this region. But one native plant w

ehad planted extensively in the hillside m

eadow seem

ed to bepaying off—

the high point of the day was the discovery in that

meadow

of a monarch caterpillar m

unching on the leaves thatunderlay the phosphorescent orange flow

ers of the butterflyw

eed, while a m

onarch adult flitted above us. H

olt said that the lumpy look of the hillside m

eadow (on

High School R

oad) is good—it indicates diversity. But several

trees in the upper meadow

would be happier in the w

oodland,he added, and noted that the A

lumni Path area, w

hich winds its

way upw

ard from the H

igh School Rd. parking lot tow

ard them

eadow, looks like a rem

nant of a native woodland and should

be carefully preserved. Holt gave us a num

ber of suggestionsfor trees, shrubs and plants to introduce in specific areas, as w

ellas recom

mendations of plants to rem

ove for the integrity of thesite.W

e are looking forward to m

any more com

ments, sugges-

tions, and recomm

endations when the PSI analysis is com

plet-ed and w

e receive the full written report. It w

ill provide PRA

Mw

ith a renewed focus for our w

ork in the preservation andrestoration of the H

igh School Park. The PSI report will also be

shared at a meeting open to the public on N

ovember 13th,

which w

ill be held from 7-9 pm

at the Elkins Park Library. TheH

igh School Park assessment w

ill also be available on theBow

man’s H

ill Wildflow

er Preserve website: w

ww

.bhwp.org,

as well as additional inform

ation about the PSI.

Botan

ist Su

rveys HS

P for P

lant S

teward

ship

In

dex A

ssessmen

t By C

.J. Smith

Im

agine the creek that runs through High School Park guard-

ed over by a forest of trees, whose flow

ers and berries attracta colorful assortm

ent of butterflies and bees, and whose

roots hold tight to the soil of the creek bed so it doesn’t disap-pear into the creek during rainstorm

s. Sounds like a nice dream,

right? But that dream can be turned into a reality now

that theFriends of H

igh School Park was recently aw

arded a $13,690TreeV

italize Watershed Program

grant to improve the plant

comm

unities that bufferthe Tookany C

reek. Thegrant

will

cover the

expenses for 150 trees,190 shrubs, and dozensof ferns and other herba-ceous ground plants. Inaddition, it w

ill providem

oney for

tools and

equipment

and tw

oem

bedded fiberglass signs explaining the importance of pro-

tecting the watershed w

ith native plants. TreeV

italizeis a program

to restore tree cover in the five-county region in Southeastern Pennsylvania. A

2003 study bythe U

SDA

Forest Service and Am

erican Forests, Inc, estimates

our region has lost 5 million trees over the past 15 years. This

loss leads to increased storm w

ater runoff, lower air quality and

increased energy costs. Tree cover can positively impact the

social and economic environm

ent and improve the quality of

life in the region. We’re doing our part to turn this trend around.

Our outstanding track record of volunteer support buoyed

our application as we estim

ate we’ll need 700 hours of volun-

teer support to complete the TreeV

italizeproject. A

rcadia stu-dents have already begun clearing the area to be planted ofinvasive shrubs, trees and vines. M

ost of the plantings will be in

the old woody field by the M

ill Street entrance and the areaadjoining the stream

bank, while others w

ill happen on theforested slope leading to the creek. Several volunteer days w

illbe held in O

ctober and Novem

ber to complete the planting.

Please join us for part of this massive restoration endeavor!

Before planting, we are installing an irrigation system

onthe low

er woody old field so that w

e can water our new

trans-plants. FH

SPvolunteers M

arc Cortez and M

aurico Wilk w

illoversee this project w

ith the help of the Cheltenham

High

School (CH

S) Environmental C

lub. CH

S student Mollie K

aplanis organizing fellow

students to assist with the irrigation system

and to take charge of watering the new

plants. Im

agine a beautiful forested stream bank in H

igh SchoolPark and then com

e make it happen! If you are interested in vol-

unteering for this project, please call Cynthia at 215-379-0863

orem

ail us at volunteer@fhsp.org

so that we can include you. See

the sidebar below for the dates w

hen we w

ill be schedulingw

ork parties to plant the trees or, check our website for specific

dates and times, w

ww

.highschoolpark.org.

The Friends would like to thank Susan G

reth of the Montgom

ery County

Conservation D

istrict for her assistance preparing and submitting our

application. We are also thankful to the D

epartment of C

onservation andN

atural Resources for m

aking these funds available to us.

Friend

s Aw

arded

TreeVitalize G

rant

By A

my Steffen

Hear ye, hear ye, calling all people w

ho want to help H

ighSchool Park grow

and thrive. We are now

taking nominations

for new Friends of H

igh School Park (FHSP) board m

embers.

The Board of Directors is responsible for guiding the w

ork ofFH

SP. The board oversees all aspects of our operations,including park m

aintenance and restoration, fundraising andfinancial m

anagement, volunteer outreach and placem

ent,com

munications, m

embership and m

ore. Board mem

bers

care about the comm

unity and enjoy making a positive con-

tribution. They are active contributors of time and energy and

see the benefits of their actions. If you have a talent for anyarea of running an effective non-profit organization, and/oran interest in native plant restoration, and w

ant to spend time

with som

e great people, submit your nam

e for considerationby O

ctober 15. Anew

slate of board candidates will be elect-

ed in January, 2007.

Callin

g All P

otential B

oard M

emb

ers

The nannyberry bush (above) is one of several types

of bushes and trees that FHSP

will be planting in

October.

Botanist Jack H

olt discusses techniques to remove

invasive plants with FH

SP P

resident Am

y Steffanduring the recent P

SI Assessm

ent.