| Grove of Remembrance
Fall 2007
For the third year in a row, Bloomberg volunteers converged on the Grove on September 12, 2007 to plant roses and shrubs, weed and mulch the planting beds. Bloomberg volunteers are the Best!
Jersey City students also helped beautify the Grove of Remembrance this Fall.
Happy Jersey City students with their pile of weeds! After weeding, students planted shrubs and bulbs to add color and beauty to the Grove. Thank you, students!
Spring 2007
While the Big Kids mulched...
The Young Kids planted. On Two beautiful spring days, 194 Jersey City students planted and mulched their classroom grown flowers at the Grove of Remembrance.
Fall 2006
Over four crisp, fall days, 200 Jersey City students planted 5,000 spring flowering bulbs in the Grove of Remembrance.
  
Left to Right: Jersey City students hold a Silky dogwood; James Cunningham, NJTF Urban Forestry Technician,
assists srudents with bulb planting; George, NJTF Green Streets staff member, helps a student plant a Button bush.
Spring 2006
Over four balmy, spring days, the NJ Tree Foundation and Jersey City students, planted annual and perennial flowers into students' Grove Gardens. 569 students and teachers weeded, planted and mulched the Grove gardens to make this Living Memorial vibrant with color. After the last weed was pulled and flower was planted, students picnicked and played at the Grove of Remembrance.
   
Over the winter months, Ocean Residential Community Home students grew 25 flats of flowers in their greenhouse for the Grove of Remembrance. On May 22, 2006, ten of the students joined the Tree Foundation^s Tree Crew to plant their flowers in the Memorial Circle at the Grove. While planting, the Tree Crew spoke to the students about making good life choices. This was not only an opportunity for the students to give back to the community, but it was also an opportunity for the Tree Crew to council the juveniles and show off their landscaping skills. The Ocean Residential Community Home focuses on male youth with substance abuse issues. The program maintains a philosophy that encourages sound decision making and holds residents accountable for their decisions.
Fall 2005
 
Jersey City School children and NJ Youth Corps did their part to honor the victims of 9/11 during the fall of 2005, when they planted 420 mums and 1200 flower bulbs to brighten the Grove of Remembrance, NJ’s living memorial to those who lost their lives four years ago. The New Jersey Tree Foundation, in partnership with WILD Jersey and Liberty State Park, sponsored the event, which is part of the Tree Foundation’s “GrowLabs for the Grove” program.
Now is its second year, the "GrowLabs for the Grove" program involves Jersey City teachers and students in a service-learning project linked to their science curriculum. After completing a full day of training, participating teachers recieve GrowLabs, light gardens for propogating plants in the classroom. Their students grow flowers for the Grove of Remembrance, and help care for this important open space by weeding, watering, and planting adopted garden beds. Supporters of the program include the National Gardening Association, PSE&G, and the Jersey City Board of Education.
Grove of Remembrance Receives National Award
The Grove of Remembrance was selected from 900 kid's gardening programs to receive a 2005 Youth Garden Grant from the National Gardening Association!
Jersey City students wrote us many thank you letters for the GrowLabs and the Earth Day planting at the Grove.
Earth Day 2005 at the Grove of Remembrance - Friday, April 22, 2005
Over 300 Jersey City students planted their classroom grown, GrowLab flowers into Grove Beds at the Grove of Remembrance.
GrowLabs for the Grove
 
The New Jersey Tree Foundation, in partnership with WILD Jersey, has developed a dynamic new program to help maintain the Grove of Remembrance at Liberty State Park. GrowLabs for the Grove introduced Jersey City teachers and students to the wonders of plant sciences and service learning activities. Students are growing flowers to transplant in the Grove, and each participating child is becoming an active steward of this Living Memorial located within their own community. The GrowLabs for the Grove program is partially funded by the National Tree Trust and Lowes Home Improvement of Old Bridge.
A Place To Call Our Own at the Grove of Remembrance
  
This fall, over 300 Jersey City School students from the Joint Activities Program planted 1,439 shrubs and perennials in the Grove as part of an educational activity called “A Place to Call Our Own”. This program introduced students and teachers to Liberty State Park and the Grove of Remembrance through hands-on planting and learning activities. With over 300 students ready to plant, the NJ Tree Foundation needed planting equipment, shrubs, perennials, seeds and bulbs, and cash donations to cover other costs! The following companies gave generously to this fall’s planting project: National Tree Trust, Cumberland Nurseries, Hopewell Nursery, Pinelands Nursery, Angelica Nurseries, Inc., Fernbrook Nursery, Inc., Seeds of Change, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Lockwood Farms & Her Secret Gardens and Comforts of Home, www.comfortsofhomeonline.com.
  
The Grove of Remembrance is being maintained entirely by volunteers. In Spring 2004, 186 volunteers planted an additional 50 trees & 315 perennials, and spread 55 yards of mulch to continue to beautify this Living Memorial
Grove of Remembrance - A Living Memorial
The Grove of Remembrance, located in Liberty State Park, is a 10.8-acre tract where 691 mature trees, one tree for each New Jersey victim of September 11, 2001, are planted. This memorial has vastly improved a large brownfield in Liberty State Park, allowing all who visit a peaceful place to reflect while viewing the Manhattan skyline and the area where the Twin Towers once stood.
The NJ Tree Foundation received a $143,000 grant from the USDA Forest Service to create the Grove of Remembrance. With the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as a backdrop, Liberty State Park is one of New Jersey’s most dramatic parks. On September 11, 2001 Liberty State Park was one of the main triage centers for victims coming across the Hudson River via ferry service. The Park and its’ staff took in survivors and those who were injured, and helped to maintain organized services during those chaotic hours and days that followed that tragic event. Liberty State Park Rangers, staff and the Park Superintendent were in charge of the triage center. In the following days and weeks, the Family Crisis Center was set up in the Central Rail Road NJ Terminal.
The Grove of Remembrance includes two walkways that run the length of the tract. The "active walkway" is a tree-lined, linear pathway that leads from one end of the memorial to the other. The “Walk of Remembrance” is a meandering path that allows visitors to take their time getting from one end of the memorial to the other. At the middle point of the tract, both walkways are linked and lead to a circular area that is the focal point of this Living Memorial. Here at the Memorial Circle, a large plaque with the names of the New Jersey residents who perished is mounted on stone. Donated shrubs and perennials are planted along the split rail fence and in numerous planting beds. The Grove of Remembrance also includes lawn areas where visitors may sit in the sunshine and reflect upon the changed Manhattan skyline.
The Grove of Remembrance was host to two special days – a private ceremonial tree planting with 9/11 family members, and the State Arbor Day event.
On April 21, 2003 Governor James McGreevey and the families of those lost on September 11, 2001, planted the first tree in the Grove of Remembrance. Prior to the tree planting, the families viewed a presentation covering the history of Liberty State Park, and the development of the Grove. Additionally, Jeanne Kavinski, who lost her sister in Tower One, read a poem that her sister wrote “Help a Withered Tree Bloom”.
On Friday, April 25, 2003, Arbor Day in New Jersey, 300 volunteers planted the first 200 trees in the Grove. All 200 trees were planted, mulched and watered in a little over an hour, allowing the volunteers to join in on the Arbor Day Ceremonial activities, and enjoy a nice lunch. A special, quiet planting area was set up for 9/11 family members so they could help plant a tree in memory of their loved ones. NJ Certified Tree Experts, NJ Tree Foundation and Community Forestry staff supervised the volunteers in their planting and mulching efforts.
The Arbor Day Ceremony included a moving speech by Jeanne Kavinski, a family member who assisted with the planning and design of the Grove. Jeanne spoke eloquently about how helping to develop and design the Grove had assisted with her healing. Additionally, awards were presented to the Arbor Day contest winners, Tree City USA towns, and a ceremonial tree was planted with state and local officials. For this year’s Arbor Day contest, students were asked to write a short prose on What Trees Mean To Me. The top winners read their poems at the Ceremony, and helped the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection plant the Arbor Day tree.
The Grove of Remembrance will be maintained solely by volunteers, and fundraising to assist with the continued maintenance of the Grove is ongoing. The USDA Forest Service grant of $143,000 paid for the trees, landscape materials and the bronze plaque. To date, over $220,243.00 worth of cash, in-kind donations and volunteer hours have been contributed to the Grove, and fifty-four corporations, volunteer organizations and local companies have donated trees, mulch, stone, soil, woodchips, time, cash and volunteers to the Grove of Remembrance.
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