By Christine Du Bois, Member, Southeastern Pennsylvania Group, Delaware County; Editor, Bird Beat, the e-newsletter of Bird Town Pennsylvania
There’s a really inspiring story-behind-the-story of the Delaware County Sierra Club’s Green Team partnering with a sorority to plant trees in Lansdowne.
Among others, tree planters included volunteers with the Lansdowne Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) and Bird Town Pennsylvania, Howard Sherman of the Delaware County Sierra Club subgroup (with hat in front of Sierra Club banner), Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority members, Mayor Magda Byrne of Lansdowne (front on right side in dark jeans), and Joe Parsio of the Lansdowne Shade Tree Commission (he’s on the far right— but only in the photo!). Image courtesy of Marc Manfre of the Lansdowne Department of Parks and Recreation.
It all began when Ms. Reggie Jones, representing Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically Black sorority with a strong tradition of service and leadership, reached out to the Sierra Club’s Delco subgroup to facilitate Earth Day tree plantings. Could the Delco Green Team help the sorority identify locations for planting and assist with expertise and volunteers? The Green Team resoundingly said, “yes!”
Sixty serviceberry seedlings were slated to be sold by a non-profit to the sorority’s Hearts for Service Pearls group, with eight of those trees to be planted in Lansdowne, a small Delco borough just west of Philadelphia. Downy serviceberries (Amelanchier arborea) are native to Pennsylvania, providing excellent habitat and food for butterflies, native bees, and birds. And they’re quite pretty! They are not extremely large or tall, so six of them were destined for Lansdowne’s small Reservoir Park.
But life has its twists and turns, and a problem developed. Ms. Jones had agreed with the non-profit that Lansdowne would receive serviceberries—but this non-profit’s system allows for last-minute species substitutions due to changes in availability. That’s what happened: the sorority received red oak seedlings for Lansdowne instead. Unfortunately for the borough, red oaks are not suitable for Reservoir Park. Fortunately for the borough, Ms. Jones and her sorority sisters, caring about habitat, parks, and climate change, offered to separately purchase serviceberry trees—as an add-on!—to plant there.
So eight red oaks were planted in spring in Lansdowne, and other trees from the sorority were planted elsewhere in the county in honor of Earth Day. The planting of six of the “add-on” serviceberries took place on June 7 in Reservoir Park; two more serviceberry trees from the sorority will be planted elsewhere in the borough at a later date.
Employees from the Lansdowne Department of Parks and Recreation provided equipment, professional guidance, and help with the planting. Chicken wire was installed around the seedlings to protect them from local wildlife. There was much camaraderie and sense of accomplishment at the park on June 7. Everyone agreed that it feels really good to get up and do something for the Earth. The participants all demonstrated that they understand the wisdom of two sayings: “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second best is now,” and “Many hands make light work.”
And in appreciation for her partnership with the Sierra Club, the Delco Green Team gifted Ms. Jones with a Sierra Club membership, a fitting tribute to her generosity and care for our planet. Kudos to all for a successful collaboration!
Autumn is generally a great time for planting, and with budget cuts affecting so many government entities and organizations that plant and care for trees, any tree planting that you can do will be especially valuable. For information about planting in your own yard, or to encourage your town to plant in their parks, read about Plant Resources and about Homegrown National Park.
This blog was included as part of the September 2025 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!