Presbys in the News

I spotted a couple of friends in the Johnson City Press today. They were doing some spring cleaning of invasive plants at Tipton-Haynes Historic Park.

The manicured grounds of Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site were peppered recently with mounds of invasive plants that volunteers Bob Keiter, Bruce Fowler, Sylvia Lagergren and Cathy Ciolac removed from the wooded cave area and trails that surround it.

Some might think the exotic invasives that sprang up through the years there are worth keeping, invasive or not. Not Keiter and his crew.

The invasive honeysuckle, Oriental privet, Oriental bittersweet, euonymus, multiflora rose, English ivy and grape vines planted their roots deep and have crowded out the native plants in the soil, plants those with an interest in local history and beauty want to see. In short, they destroy the natural ecosystem and disrupt animal, bird and insect life in the process. (Read More)

Cathy Ciolac, who is going to play for our Contra Dance on April 12th was there.



Ciolac is a retired high school biology teacher and master gardener from Illinois. She worked for Morton Aboretum in Lyle, Ill., in the herbarium and in the Prairie Restoration project. She learned there about removing invasive species and led wildflower walks. By removing invasive plants, the natives will be exposed to more of the sunlight and water they need.






And master gardener and Reiki Healer, Sylvia Lagergren, helped as well:

Lagergren used to volunteer at Tipton-Haynes and recently got master gardener certification. She decided this would be as satisfying a project as any other gardening project she’s done. Some would think working in the woods in winter is nothing to volunteer for, but she said it’s such labor-intensive work keeping warm wasn’t difficult and the tools make it easier.

“You just get so excited about how easy it is to come up, and so you’re much more inspired to do your own gardening,” she said.