'Jubilee Grove' Dedicated In Roxborough's Distinctive Schuylkill Center

By THE SCHUYLKILL CENTER for Patch

At a ceremony Oct. 10, 100 friends of the Schuylkill Center dedicated and celebrated the opening of “Jubilee Grove,” the latest feature of the center’s 340-acre property.

The event capped off a full year of events at the center honoring the 50th anniversary of its 1965 founding.

The group also dedicated the granite sculpture “Germination,” buried a time capsule to be opened in 2040, heard “Dear 2040” letters from environmental leaders, tossed seed bombs into the forest and even drank a signature botanical cocktail designed just for the event.

The grove itself contains more than 200 trees, shrubs and wildflowers, all planted with donations from 100 members of the center. A large rock in the grove contains the names of lead donors, and a donated bench allows visitors to enjoy the new feature.

With SCEE Director Mike Weilbacher serving as master of ceremonies, speakers included state Rep. Pam DeLissio, D-194, SCEE board President Kathy Wagner, Delaware Riverkeeper Maya Van Rossum and White Dog Café founder Judy Wicks, the last two reading their “Dear 2040” letters. Nature Preschool students kicked off the ceremony with their original song, “Schuylkill Center Dream,” sung to the tune of “Yellow Submarine.”

The time capsule, buried at the event’s conclusion, contains letters from a wide range of environmental thought leaders, photos of the current Schuylkill Center grounds and staff, a gift from Weilbacher to the 2040 executive director, soil and seed samples, even two small environmental art sculptures especially created for the capsule, “a nice surprise for the future,” said Weilbacher.

“There’s even,” he continued, “ash tree seeds, as a new insect is quickly coming who may very soon make ashes disappear.”

“Germination,” a granite and limestone sculpture commissioned for the grove, is donated by Berkshires sculptor Binney Meigs, son of one of the center’s founders and grandson of another. Inspired by a germinating red maple seed, the center’s logo tree, “Germination” “represented possibilities,” he told the assembled group.

To bury the time capsule, SCEE staff was assisted by Karin James, widow of the center’s founding director, Dick James, and the center’s first librarian, plus any children who wished to help.

“Karin represents our storied past,” noted Weilbacher, “and the children, of course, our future, why we do this work.”

As the capsule went into the ground, the group whispered a wish for the center into a seed bomb, a clay ball embedded with native plants seeds. They shouted “jubilee!” then tossed the bombs into the surrounding forest, where the seeds will sprout when released from the clay.

The center’s 50th anniversary year kicked off in January with the annual Dick James lecture, continued through the springtime Enchanted Forest party and Native Plant Sale and included a large family picnic in July and the Henry Meigs Award on Oct. 1.

“We were pioneers when we started this work in 1965,” Weilbacher told the group Saturday, “and 50 years later, we are still pioneering.”