This is the 91st event held by AYLUS Oakland Gardens. On Saturday July, 20, 2024, AYLUS Oakland Gardens went to Flushing Friends Quaker meeting House on 37-16 Northern Blvd, Queens, to help remove weeds in their backyard. AYLUS Oakland Gardens worked with Maureen Regan and Green Earth Urban Garden Inc, to remove the weeds near the Meeting House.
The Meeting House was the first house of warship in the Village of Flushing. The Meeting House is the oldest place of worship in continued use in New York City and the second oldest in the nation. The House provided the first permanent place of worship for the Quakers.
AYLUS Oakland Gardens helped preserve history by removing weeds that are damaging the Meeting House and the weed that are coving the Garden and Graveyard. Maureen instructed the member to split up into groups of five. Each group was tasked to fo different things. Group A worked on raking any dead grass or leaves surrounding the Meeting House. Group B was tasked with removing andy weed or tall grass the near the garden bed. Group C was task with making a small trench near the perimeter of the garden bed. Group D was tasked with picking up trash on the side walk near the Meeting House. Group E was tasked with removing weed the is growing from the stone wall supporting the garden bed. Group F was tasked with removing the weed growing in the stone path leading to the Meeting House.
While the members where working on removing the weed, Maureen told us about the common Milkweed. The common Milkweed is a host plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars, so we had to be very carry with what kind of plant we were removing. We also learned about the porcelain berry. The porcelain berry is not a weed but can be very damaging when it grows on walls. The porcelain berry can grow in the walls of a building, causing the wall to be unstable and dangerous.
As the event was being wrapped up Ms. Linda, a Quaker member, who allow us to the sit in the meeting hall of the Meeting House and told us about the history of the building and what being a Quaker meant. Quakers are humble people and live simple lives. Ms. Linda also let us listen and sing along to some Quaker songs.
We like that thank Ms. Linda and Maureen for letting persevere and see the Meeting House. Thank you Maureen Regan for offering food and snacks for our volunteer members. We also like to thank all the volunteers that went to the day’s event.
Our volunteers:
Vicki Lin: 4 hours
Alfred Liu: 4 hours
Sophia You : 4 hours
Ioklee Lin : 4 hours
Ioknor Lin : 4 hours
Patrick Guan : 4 hours
Sophia Xu : 4 hours
Anthony Xu : 4 hours
Eric Zheng : 4 hours
Shizhen Li : 4 hours
Shihao Li : 4 hours
Yiming Chen : 4 hours
Sophia Lu : 4 hours
Alexander Lu : 4 hours
Michelle Song : 4 hours
Stephanie You: : 4 hours
Sophia Li : 4 hours
Selena Zheng : 4 hours
Justin Cheong : 4 hours
Liam Cheung : 4 hours
Shirley Chiu : 4 hours
Jerry Zhu : 4 hours
Ethan Lin : 4 hours
Jasmine Lin : 4 hours
Tianxiang Ding : 4 hours
Ziheng Jiao : 4 hours
Jerry Shan : 4 hours
Zijia He : 4 hours
Leon Chen : 4 hours
Hanna Chen : 4 hours
Matthew Lin : 4 hours
Albert Tang : 4 hours
Naomi Luo : 4 hours
Elyssa Lin : 4 hours
Cassandra Lin : 4 hours
Thomas Liang : 4 hours
William Liang : 4 hours
Sophia Gao : 4 hours
Derrick Gao : 4 hours
Sabrina Gao : 4 hours
Aaron Shi : 4 hours
XiLin Huang : 4 hours
Nerissa Xu : 4 hours
Paxton Xu : 4 hours
Melody Ke : 4 hours
Amy Liu : 4 hours
Elina Lee : 4 hours
Ian Lee : 4 hours
Brandon Lin : 4 hours
Aiden Lin : 4 hours
Ryan Wu : 4 hours
Darren Wu : 4 hours
Sophia Lin : 4 hours
Mandy Lin : 4 hours
Isabella Wang : 4 hours
Cindy Siegel : 4 hours
Tyler Siegel : 4 hours
Darren Li : 4 hours
Austin Li : 4 hours
Angela Liu: 3.5 hours
Iokseng Lin: 3.5 hours
Queena Li: 3 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Cui Fang Li (Fannie): 5 hours
Teng Fei Liu (Faye): 5 hours
Hsinhui Liao (Karen): 5 hours
Report written by: Vickie Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu