Mo’ Than Your Average Birthday Party

It’s not often that one celebrates a birthday by planting trees, removing invasives and leading a classroom full of excited fourth graders on an expedition in a local park, but I probably don’t need to remind you that Udallers are far from ordinary people. On Friday (June 15), we celebrated what would have been Mo’s 85th Birthday in a BIG way – by teaming up with several local organizations in the Bronx to host a day-long celebration of environmental events and public service activities. In the tradition of all great birthdays, however, we did end the day with a cake!

The day began quite early and proved to be a great work out, as we had to carry our luggage (and supplies for the day’s events) on the metro, as we headed from our hostel in Manhattan into the South Bronx to our first site – Shoelace Park, a small park that borders a portion of the Bronx River.

While there, the crew met with Teresa Crimmens, Dart Westphal and others from the Bronx River Alliance and joined them for a morning of invasive removal and planting native species.

At the same time, myself and several others (including ’03 and ’04 Scholar Marcos Orozco!) hosted a mini-Parks in Focus program with 23 fourth grade students from Public School 304 in the Bronx to explore the flora and fauna, as well as the art of photography, in Shoelace Park.

After wrapping up with our morning activities, we jumped back onto the metro (again with all of our luggage) and headed to Bronx Community College to attend an alternative energy forum, which emphasized the use of compact fluorescent lighting in both homes and businesses.

To conclude the day’s festivities, we jumped on the bus to head to Barretto Point Park (a former brownfields site that is now a gorgeous public park) for a picnic with folks from Congressman Serrano’s office, as well as other community leaders.

Unfortunately, the Congressman was held up in DC and was unable to attend our event; however, we had the opportunity to meet with some incredible people from his office and the Bronx Green Workers Cooperative, Nos Quedamos, MUD/BONE Collective, Inc., The Point Community Development Corporation, Transfiguration Lutheran Church and the South Bronx Food Cooperative.

For me, June 15 was more than a day of celebrating public service. Visiting the Bronx was an eye-opening and personally inspirational experience. Before I had begun planning this stop, I had been very unaware of all the great initiatives and all of the amazing work already taking place within the Bronx. And even though I had read a lot about the community’s environmental success stories over the past couple months - it was great to see and experience some of them firsthand.

For example, a few months ago I never would have imagined that there was flourishing riparian ecosystem within the Bronx, but the Bronx River and its bordering parks are now frequented with lush vegetation, and amazing wildlife. It wasn’t long after we arrived at Shoelace Park before we were watching mallards, egrets and other birds utilizing the river – a truly amazing site, considering we were virtually footsteps away from the hustle and bustle of the city. You may also know that the Bronx now has its first resident beaver in more than 200 years – named Jose, after Congressman Serrano, in recognition for his commitment to revitalizing the Bronx River.

And perhaps equally important – the change is being noticed within the community…

Probably the day’s most heartening experience, took place that morning. Most of our group had ventured down to the bank of the river to begin their planting and invasive removal efforts, while the handful of us running the mini-Parks in Focus program were waiting for the class to arrive, when a man running by stopped to ask us if we were “the group” responsible for the park. Of course, we weren’t; however, we pointed out Teresa and the Bronx River Alliance for revitalizing and maintaining the park.

Immediately, the man piped up and said, “Well, whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it.” He then went on to tell us about how great it is to have the park in the neighborhood and how happy he is that the area has been revitalized. He lit up as he told us how he enjoys taking his grandson there to watch all of the birds and other wildlife. At one point he even referred to one area of the park as an “enchanted forest.”

Similar sentiments of appreciation were a common thread throughout the day…
While listening to some of community members’ stories at the picnic and at the day’s other events – their failures and successes, as well as their battles as they continue to plan for a more environmentally, economic and socially sustainable future – I began to realize that as large as the Bronx is, it really has a “small-town,” feel. The people we met with who live there have a strong passion and sense of commitment and responsibility to improving their local community for themselves, their families and their neighbors.

Our visit to the Bronx is one that has left a lasting impression on me, and I do really hope that I will have the opportunity to visit again soon to offer a pair of able hands.

I can’t think of a better way or a better place that we could have spent Mo’s birthday. I’m sure Mo would have loved this.

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(Immediately following our picnic in the Bronx, the group headed back to Manhattan for an evening out where we met up with ’06 Scholars Betsy Scherzer and Seth Silverman. G7 was representing!)

By: Bret Muter