Lancaster LNP - 05/17/2017
2
Copy Reduced to 76% from original to fit letter page
Page : ZA02
SENIOR LIVING
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017
LNP | LANCASTER, PA
Back to
nature
JEREMY HESS
Participants in the Friends of the Woods and Wetlands group at Landis Homes include, from left, Roland Yoder, Don Ziegler, Charles Longenecker,
Dick Boshart and Bruce Allison.
Landis Homes residents cherish community’s resources
MARGARET GATES
CUSTOM CONTENT EDITOR
JEREMY HESS
Charles Longenecker, left, and Roland Yoder remove invasive teasel weed.
Associates of Lancaster
Don Spica
Copyright (c)2017 Steinman Communications, Edition 05/17/2017
ABR, CRS, CSP, GRI, SRES®
May 17, 2017 5:45 am (GMT +4:00)
Seniors
500 Delp Road
Lancaster, PA 17601
Office: 717-569-2222
Cell: 717-575-4603
Welcome
Home!
Charles Longenecker doesn’t give up
easily, especially when it comes to preserving nature.
When the retired Lancaster Mennonite biology teacher moved to Landis Homes 12 years ago, he decided to
reintroduce native plants to Leaman
Woods, a natural area of the community’s south campus that had been overrun by invasive garlic mustard.
Without a water source, some of
those new plants died. Still others were
lost to some well-meaning groundsmen with a weed whacker. So Longenecker planted more.
Then came a paving project a few
years ago to create a path that would
make the woods more accessible to
wheelchairs and motorized scooters.
In the process of paving, more plants
were lost. But that hasn’t stopped Longenecker.
“I think there’s a better chance of
survival this time,” the mild-mannered
84-year-old says with a smile.
That’s because there’s a movement
afloat at Landis Woods, the seeds of
which were planted a few years ago
among Longenecker and a few likeminded residents.
Residents like Roland Yoder, 81, a fellow educator who taught art and biology at what is now Dock Mennonite
Academy in Lansdale.
“We all have something in common,”
Yoder says. “We love nature.”
That love blossomed into an informal group known as the Friends of the
Woods and Wetlands.
The “woods” is Leaman Woods, and
the “wetlands” is the area along Kurtz
Run, a spring-fed stream running
through the 114-acre campus. A floodplain restoration project four years ago
not only improved stormwater management and water quality, but also
transformed a sediment-choked pond
into a lush habitat for native flora and
fauna.
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Lancaster LNP - 05/17/2017
Copy Reduced to 76% from original to fit letter page
SENIOR LIVING
LNP | LANCASTER, PA
Page : ZA03
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017
3
Nature: Landis Homes
Continued from 2
The Friends, a group
of volunteer residents
working collaboratively
with the Landis Homes
administration,
envisions a fully restored
wetlands populated by
native plants and wildlife that will serve as a
preserve, a resource for
study and an aesthetic
centerpiece for the campus.
The group has a willing partner in Landis
Homes.
“It’s part of the vision
of making the campus
more sustainable,” says
Deb Laws-Landis, director of community relations.
What started with a
handful of residents
three or four years ago
has grown to about
33 regulars who have
formed 10 working
groups to reflect their
diverse backgrounds and
interests.
Among
them
are
groups devoted to removing invasive plants,
animals and toxins;
increasing the population of native bees, butterflies, birds, flora and
fauna; and enhancing
the ancient sycamores.
There is also a working
group that maps the species on campus.
“There’s a large enough
group that really appreciates this gem of having this stream and this
woods right here,” says
resident Don Ziegler,
who lives in one of the
eco-friendly
hybrid
homes
overlooking
Kurtz Run.
Ziegler, 74, arrived at
Landis Homes three
years ago with his wife
and a collection of native
bees that he used to pol-
“There’s a large
enough group
that really
appreciates
this gem of
having this
stream and this
woods right
here.”
—Don Ziegler, resident
linate his fruit trees in
Akron. Naturally, he fit
right in.
Volunteers at the community’s woodshop built
bee boxes that have been
placed along Kurtz Run
to host the native pollinators that live there,
Ziegler says.
Like Longenecker and
Yoder, Ziegler recognizes that the work the
Friends group does has
implications that extend
far beyond the boundaries of Landis Homes.
He views the wetlands
like a sanctuary city
where bees and other insects can thrive. Without
them, foods that are dependent on pollination
become endangered.
“All native pollinators
need native plants,” he
says. “If you have the
native plants, the native
bees can survive. And if
you have the bees, then
we can survive.”
That broader view
extends to some of the
group’s other projects as
well, like removing invasive plants, in particular
hemlock, teasel weed
and garlic mustard — all
of which they’ve dug up
by hand.
“Hemlock is poison-
ous to anybody and any
animal,” Yoder says.
“One plant can produce
thousands of seeds in
one season. If half of that
survives, it’s spreading
all over the county.
“Teasel is just as bad,”
he says of the rugged
weed that gives off hundreds of seeds. Teasel is
a biennial plant, meaning it has a two-year life
cycle.
“If you keep them under control for two years,
you’ve got them licked,”
Yoder says.
Toiling to remove invaders is only part of the
work of Friends of the
Woods and Wetlands.
The group also has projects to bring new species
to campus. Currently,
they are assembling 100
butterfly kits for residents to adopt. Each kit
will include at least six
plants designed to accommodate
different
butterflies in the various
stages of their life cycle.
“We expect to have
many more butterflies
than we ever had,” Yoder
says.
The group also spends
time educating, through
guest speakers, films,
programs, exhibits and
events like wildflower
walks. They’ve also hosted numerous student
groups.
The hope is that the
example of stewardship
will spread.
“We’ve done a little
evangelism,”
Longenecker says. “I’m not going to be around here all
that many years. I hope
there will be someone
that follows us.”
Yoder is confident that
interest will grow. “As
younger ones experience
life, they’ll realize that
JEREMY HESS
what we’re talking about
is a serious matter.”
But the men acknowledge that having the opportunity to champion
an environmental cause
in their own backyard
has personal benefits as
well.
“It keeps alive some
of the interest from our
years of teaching before
retirement,” Longenecker says. “It’s stimulating.
“We keep learning,”
he says, adding with a
chuckle, “learning and
forgetting.”
“And enjoying,” Ziegler
says. “I wake up and I
think, ‘I have six or eight
things I could do in the
woods and wetlands.
What do I want to do
most?’ ”
Painting opened
up a new ing takes me to new places.
Copyright (c)2017 Steinman Communications, Edition 05/17/2017
May 17, 2017 5:46 am (GMT +4:00)
nt
ere, and I was hooked
got h
.
I
n
e
place to go.
wh
w
s
e
n
s
ea
cla
s lik
From left: Roland
Yoder, Don Ziegler and
Charles Longenecker
maintain birdhouses
and track bird sightings in the woods and
wetlands on the Landis
Homes campus.
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