A Blessed Day for the Trees
Photos by Malkah Binah Klein (top), David Fonda (bottom)
Top, scouts from Troop 1719, with Scoutmaster Ann Perrone, read their poem, “Looking at a Young Tree,” for tree-blessers and tree-planters. Below, Anna Hoover, Beverly Medley, Mindy Maslin and Justice Medley get up close and personal with a new tree.
At a unique Tree Tenders event in Germantown, neighborhood clergy and residents blessed several newly planted trees with poems, song and scripture, and then enjoyed a community luncheon at the First United Methodist Church in Germantown. The planting Nov. 19 by the Germantown Interfaith Power & Light Tree Tenders group is part of Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s “Plant a Million Trees” campaign. Three of the trees were planted in front of two neighborhood vegan restaurants, the Nile Cafe and All the Way Live who provided the delicious food.
If you live in Germantown (or nearby) and would like trees planted and blessed next year at your house of worship, in your yard or on your sidewalk, contact Mark Smith at mfsmith4@gmail.com. We also welcome new members to plant with us!
Germantown IPL Tree Tenders is a project of the Philadelphia chapter of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light, people of faith responding to climate change as a moral issue. PaIPL is committed to fighting climate change, improving local resiliency and building community. A special thank you to the Weavers Way Environment Committee for supporting the project with a grant.