Memorial trees planted

Sebago Canoe Club is a Parks concession and one of the capital improvements we committed to in our new lease agreement is planting native plants and trees. Yesterday, contractors working with the Parks Department’s Tree Time program planted two two eastern red cedars–also known as junipers–at the southwest corner of our grounds.

One of the trees is intended as a memorial to John Wright, a former commodore and indefatigable volunteer who served as Sebago’s head groundskeeper and Maintainer-in-Chief right up until his death this past winter (the Club also made a donation to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden on John’s behalf).

The other tree was donated by Tom Klinger (aka Quint) in honor of his partner, Bonnie Aldinger, another remarkable and beloved Club volunteer, instructor and trip leader who died a few months after John.

Why cedars? Until about 100 years ago, when the mouth of Paerdegat Creek was transformed into the trench called Paerdegat Basin–part of an abortive attempt to create a seaport in Jamaica Bay–the banks of the creek were home to New York City’s last maritime cedar forest. Of course two small trees may not constitute a fully-fledged restoration effort, but they’re a start!