Dynamic father-son duo plays role in Poland park’s growth

Move over, Johnny Appleseed. An environmentally conscious father and son duo in Poland Township Park is carrying on your 19th-century legacy of enriching natural spaces with bounties of robust trees and updating it with 21st-century know-how and diversity.

Appleseed, born John Chapman in 1777, single-handedly enhanced the rolling terrain of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois with thousands of varieties of luscious apple trees. Like Chapman, Ken and Kyle Filicky of Poland take their volunteer tree-planting and nature- enhancement mission in their neck of the woods quite seriously, thank you.

Their impressive eye-opening results prove it. The two naturalists and nurserymen have added about 30 species of trees to the park, which has been carved out of more than 70 acres of land once operated by Republic Services’ Carbon Limestone Landfill. Working with the township park’s advisory board, Ken and Kyle have played a pivotal role in the park’s growth. Today, the park boasts more than 5,000 trees with its number of species standing at about 60 and growing.

Most recently, Ken and Kyle planted about 50 American elm trees after collecting seeds from Westminster College’s campus. They also are working to save from disease many of the park’s stately white ash trees.

PURPOSEFUL VOLUNTEERISM

But lest you think that the Filickys’ and park board’s efforts are only for show, think again. A strong sense of purpose motivates their every action. For example, consider the parks’ addition of a National Monarch Butterfly Garden.

Last winter marked the lowest count ever recorded in the United States of the monarch, a pollinator that is as rich in beauty as it is in importance to U.S. agriculture. According to the National Geographic, the North American monarch population has declined by 90 percent over the past two decades.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of the 35th president of the United States and an environmental attorney and activist, recently alerted the nation to that decline in a column that appeared in The Vindicator last week.

In it, Kennedy wrote, “The annual migration of the monarchs, one of the most inspiring natural phenomena on the planet, may be coming to an end. ... We don’t want to be the last to witness the marvel of the monarch’s journey.”

Toward that end, Kennedy and others urge cultivation of National Monarch Butterfly Gardens that yield milkweek to restore the monarch’s nectaring habitat, much of which has been decimated by development. We’re pleased to see the park take an active role in that responsible national initiative.

The purposeful enrichment of the picturesque park doesn’t stop there, however.

The Filickys also are working on a tree-identification trail, which will have plaques explaining the history behind each species in the park. “We’re going to try to get every species with signage,” Ken said. “They all have names, and they all have a purpose. We’re trying to let people know how important, environmentally, the forest is.”

That is a lesson worthy of duplication by stewards of natural parks and all nature lovers throughout the Mahoning Valley. In addition, the Filickys’ praiseworthy and selfless volunteerism stands as an exemplary model for low-profile but high-yield activism that can reap countless natural and resplendent rewards for years and decades to come.