Landis Arboretum Receives ARC 2007 Community Service Award

Related Media

Prime Movers of Arboretum/ARC Partnership Meet in Landis Library

ESPERANCE, NY (06/13/2007)(readMedia)-- The ballroom of Cobleskill’s Best Western provided the setting for the late May presentation of the Schoharie County Chapter, NYSARC, Inc. 2007 Community Service Award to the Landis Arboretum of Esperance, NY. NYSARC Executive Director Anthony Alvarez presented the award that was accepted by Thom O’Connor of the Arboretum of behalf of its Board, staff, and the “scores of volunteers so critical to day-to-day operations” of the non-profit living museum and public park of trees and shrubs.

In accepting the award for the Arboretum, Mr. O’Connor offered a brief overview of the soon-to-be-constructed Wanderland Accessible Sensory Garden at the Arboretum. The plan includes access to people with disabilities, raised beds for flowers and plants, and sections for those with sight and other sensory diminution. The entry way to Wanderland will include an over-scaled pergola designed by Fred Breglia, Director of Horticulture and Operations at Landis. Discussions are under way with Capital Region BOCES, the Esperance Elks, and SUNY Cobleskill, each of which expects to contribute to the endeavor.

FLAME, Hot Pots in Concert

In a major step toward breaking ground for Wanderland, Assemblyman Peter Lopez, 127 Legislative District, a longtime ARC supporter, will emcee a joint Arboretum/ARC fundraising event on Saturday, July 21, noon – 4 p.m. to benefit the Wanderland Garden project. The family-focused event is open to all and will feature Fulton County’s award-winning and nationally acclaimed ARC band FLAME. The increasingly popular Cobleskill-based Ms. Cherie and the Hot Pots will open for FLAME. Tickets are available at $10 each through the ARC (518-(518) 295-8130, www.schohariearc.org, and the Landis Arboretum (518-875-6935).

Since joining forces in early October, the Landis Arboretum and the Schoharie County ARC have been planting and harvesting a bounty of opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities.

The idea of utilizing the Landis Arboretum’s 548 acres as a classroom for individuals with developmental disabilities first came from Dr. Marie Kuethe, Ph.D., a state licensed psychologist and an avid gardener who volunteers at the Arboretum. Thom O’Connor, Executive Director of the Arboretum, later approached the ARC with an expanded list of volunteer opportunities that would lend themselves to day habilitation opportunities. The collaboration is a match ‘made in heaven’-- offering learning opportunities and therapeutic benefits to the individuals served by the Schoharie County ARC, as well as a band of committed volunteers for the Arboretum.

The Arboretum continues to reach out to individuals of all abilities - bringing to them the wonders of the outside world and nature, and the opportunity to learn new skills that undoubtedly contribute to quality-of-life enrichment. Since the original collaboration, the Arboretum has expanded its opportunities to include plans for an accessible garden to be known as the ‘Wanderland Garden’ which would include raised gardens, walkways and paving, as well as an improved indoor site within the Arboretum’s Meeting House for continued volunteer opportunities during the cooler weather months.

Earlier this year, the Arboretum was designated among only 15 public gardens in the nation to participate in a phased update of shared collections database. According to Barbara Brabetz, Chair of the Natural Sciences Department at the State University of New York at Cobleskill and a President of the Arboretum, “The scope of implications and impact for the Arboretum is tremendous and far-reaching.” She notes that “the sharing of plant databases that is the thrust of the Plant Collection initiative streamlines valuable information sharing across the global scientific community and streamlines access into the gene pool of specialized, rare, and disease-resistant specimens from around the world.” She points to a dawn redwood (meta-sequoia) – the second oldest tree species known in the world – that is within the Arboretum’s collection and can be traced from its original seed stock collected following the species momentous rediscovery in China in 1946 to its present reign as the premier specimen that greets visitors as they approach the Arboretum’s Fred Lape Trail. Primary Partners in the PlantCollections™ endeavor include the Chicago Botanic Garden, American Public Gardens Association, and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas.

“We are in the best of company,” says a proud Mr. Breglia. “Everyone at the Landis Arboretum is excited about the possibilities – and grateful that our on-going work here has garnered the attention of front-running gardens across the nation.” Because of our participation, he says, the Arboretum recently received a request to participate in research under way at Notre Dame University. He says that he is grateful, too, for the area businesses and individuals who contributed to defray the cost of his attendance at an American Public Gardens Association last Spring in San Francisco where his networking efforts lead to the Arboretum’s participation in the global database project. These include Realty USA (Cobleskill), Scholet Furniture (Oneonta), Fenimore Assets (Cobleskill), All About Frames (Cobleskill), Liddledale Farm (Duanesburg), Delaware Engineering (Margaretville), both the Men’s’ and Women’s’ Auxiliaries of the Federal Order of Eagles (Cobleskill), the Elks Lodge (Esperance), Landis Trustees, as well as Capital Region resident Friends of the Arboretum from Schenectady, Troy, Rexford, and Albany, who gave anonymously.

Photo: Standing: Anthony Alvarez (ARC), Maria Kuethe (Landis), Terry Tetlak and Lauren Milavec (ARC)

Seated: Linda Isles (ARC), Barbara Brabetz, Fred Breglia, and Thom O’Connor (Landis Arboretum).