50.0°,
Light Rain New life for old tradition
Locals keep white pine tree sapling program alive
Trees are an important part of any community. Baldwin certainly seems to be pro-tree, with residents the scenery, shade and neighborhood feel they provide.
For roughly 45 years, third-graders in Baldwin schools have taken home white pine tree saplings in the springtime. This year, the saplings were delivered to Baldwin’s five elementary schools and St. Christopher School last Monday, but the way they got there was different.
The Baldwin Kiwanis Club started and ran a program for more than 40 years, providing third-graders with saplings, but this year a new group was needed to keep the tradition alive.
Rolf Mahler, who has been an important part of the program since its inception, handled the costs associated with it, along with his friend Charlie Fifenne. on behalf of the Beautiful Baldwin Foundation. They are the organization’s only current members. For more than 40 years, Rolf has hosted volunteers at his Baldwin home to package the tree saplings before they’re distributed.
The saplings are placed in sandwich-size bags that have been filled with “schlabamagoo” — a term Rolf came up with decades ago to describe wet peat moss — with the saplings sticking out of the bag.
Rolf and Fifenne decided to fund the program on their own this year, and purchased about 400 saplings from the Department of Environmental Conservation for roughly $200.
Rolf said that educating young students about the importance of trees is crucial. “It’s important that children get exposure to nature and trees,” he said.
This year, about 25 volunteers headed to his backyard, where they filled the sapling bags in assembly-line fashion. Rolf’s son Erik, co-president of the Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, has been helping out with the program since he was a child. He and other BCC members, along with the Baldwin Civic Association and local Girl Scouts, led the volunteer efforts in late April.
Erik shares his father’s love of trees and looks to pass that interest on to younger generations. “Trees are vital to our community,” he said. “Trees are vital to the environment, vital to the wildlife.”
