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The KCECH Garden Club was established in the Fall of 1998 by a group of
KCECH students RAs, GAs, Managers, and house staff. All members were
concerned about the lack of green (e.g. plants, bushes, trees) in our
courtyard, front desk area and floor lounges. The benches, tables and
chairs that we all enjoy today, were not available 5 years ago.
Basically, the courtyard consisted of a few unattractive, weedy lawn
areas with lots of cement surrounding them.
Prior to the creation of the Garden Club, Julie and Krimo Bokreta had already been gardening and embellishing the area next to their apartment. Marta Rivas and Jorge Santiago began to work on the area in front of the Game Room. Professor Toni Bowers and her son Graham worked on an area in front of their apartment. Everyone had to dig out huge rocks and plenty of pebbles before planting anything, but the reward came sometime later. All these areas underwent a transformation; from ugly grass, weed and cement to a mixture of green and other beautiful colors.
Linda Nurra, GA at the time, and Peter Burchhardt were strongly determined to see more green around the courtyard. They did a lot of gardening, recruited students and created the KCECH Garden Club. Then, students from the Biosphere floor got enthusiastic as well. They became part of the Garden Club and adopted another area of the courtyard. The floor donated money to buy plants, bushes and a tree. These were planted in the adopted area, which was name The Biosphere Square Garden. Garden Club members such as Rafael, Natalie, Eli, Dean, Damaris, Ann, David, bryan, Steve, Linda and Peter gathered together to plant bulbs in the front entrance, as well as the area close to the Peach tree in the courtyard. These areas looked spectacular during the Spring of 1999, and still look beautiful at present.
KCECH residents did not use the courtyard much, mainly because there were no benches, tables or chairs available to them in this area. The Undergraduate Students Assembly donated KCECH money to by our first benches. This was possible thanks to the initiative and action of David Levin, a KCECH student resident and UA representative at the time. Later, the Garden Club submitted a proposal to Doug Berger, Director of Penn Housing and Conference Services, asking for funding. The three main components of the proposal were: (1) the beautification of the KCECH front entrance and courtyard, (2) the creation of educational seminars related to gardening and environmental topics, and the participation of students in community gardening activities outside of KCECH, (3) the beautification of student lounges, the rooftop lounge, student rooms and other house areas. The proposal was funded, helping the Garden Club get more plants, bushes and benches along with some small equipment such as sicateurs, a manual lawn mower, gloves and hoses.
As part of the educational component of the Garden Club, several activities had been organized. A Gardening 101 seminar was offered by Mike Hardy from Baltimore in Bloom and Esaúl Sánchez, former director of UC Green. The plants for this seminar were donated by Tracylea Byford, Manager of BioPond Garden, Greenhouses and Kaplan Animal Facility of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Paul Meyer, Director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania gave a seminar entitled "Tallest Trees From Around The World". The Arboretum also donated some plants and bushes to KCECH. On several occasions students attended the Philadelphia Flower Show. Over the past several years KCECH student participation in community gardening and clean up activities has included : planting bulbs on Pine Street, planting trees between 43rd and 48th Sts. along Chestnut, building pathways for gardens, planting bushes, flowers and trees on two different occasions at Baltimore and Woodland Aves. Most recently, on October 5th 2002, students and staff participated in the "Into the Woodlands" activity, where they helped clean areas of the Woodland cemetery.
If you are interested in the beautification of our Residence environment, want to become a club member, want to participate in community activities, would like to have a seminar offered or can offer a seminar related to gardening, landscaping, plants, trees, etc., or have any other suggestions for the KCECH Garden Club, please contact: Marta E. Rivas-Olmeda, Ph.D., KCECH Associate Master at 215-417-0015 or marta@stwing; Krimo Bokreta, Ph.D., KCECH Dean at 215-898-2530 or bokreta@pobox; or Seth Shannin (sshannin@stwing), Garden Club Student Coordinator.
The garden club hopes to continue to beautify KCECH. In order to do so, we depend on the generous contributions of individuals and organizations committed to improving the environment we live in. If you are interested in donating, please contact Marta E. Rivas-Olmeda, Ph.D., KCECH Associate Master at 215-417-0015 or marta@stwing.upenn.edu; Krimo Bokreta, Ph.D., KCECH Dean at 215-898-2530 or bokreta@pobox.upenn.edu.
Hands On Gardening: Garden Club Members Linda, Peter, Rafael, Dean, Steve, Damaris and Natalie put their muscles and creativity to work.
Garden in front of KCECH Game Room began.
Garden in front of the KCECH Game Room continued to bloom, and a small pond with goldfish was added.
Professor Jorge Santiago, KCECH Faculty Master, admiring the beginning of The Biosphere Square Garden.
The Biosphere Square Garden in bloom; astilbes, hostas, dyanthus, showing us their beauty.
Euonymus, butterfly bushes, chrysanthemums, hostas, ferns and begonias added much needed green and color to several areas of KCECH courtyard.
Impatiens, bamboo and holly bushes, Christmas cactuses and a Japanese maple ornamenting the area outside the Bokretas apartment.
Suyash, Piers, Michelle, and Damaris, KCECH past GAs and Special Event Manager enjoying a delicious meal in the courtyard with Nora, Krimo's niece.
As part of the Garden Club Educational component, Mike Hardy from Baltimore in Bloom and Esa� S�chez, former director of UC Green offered KCECH students a Gardening 101 seminar. Students were taught how to plant cuttings of different herbs, flowers, and coffee plants given to the Garden Club by Tracylea Byford, Manager of BioPond Garden, Greenhouses and Kaplan Animal Facility of the University of Pennsylvania.
Into the Courtyard
Into the Woodlands - Students volunteered to help beautify this historic site.
Work still is in progress.
