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 [email protected]
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.