On Saturday, November 8th, AYLUS Oakland Gardens held its 204th event at the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy. During this event, we collaborated with Maureen Regan from Green Earth Urban Gardens to help clean up the burial ground and honor Native American Heritage Month.
At the start of the event, NYC Parks employees provided us with tools. We split into groups, with each group focusing on a different thing. One of the groups focused on clearing the leaves using rakes and leaf grabbers before putting them into bags. Another group used shovels to put mulch into wheelbarrows, which was then taken and spread around trees and the areas that were cleared of leaves. Mulch helps to preserve the plants with nutrients and retain moisture. Another group focused on pruning trees with knoppers, and the final group focused on picking up trash with trash pickers.
After we finished our work, Maureen Regan provided us with coffee, juice, bagels, bread, and fresh fruit. She did not have to do this and went out of her way to provide us with food, and we sincerely appreciate her kindness.
Afterwards, we watched a ceremony performed by the Matinecock tribe, including Chief Little Fox, along with representatives of other Native American tribes such as the Seminole. Afterwards, he, along with other members of the Matinecock tribe, gave a speech about the history of the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy’s past as a burial ground for African Americans and Native Americans. The burial ground was converted into a playground before activist Mandingo Osceola Tshaka’s efforts led to its present designation. They also told us about the Native American tribes that still exist today and that, despite our differing cultures, we are all ultimately one people. This emphasizes the importance of treating everyone equally and without prejudice. State Senator from NY’s 16th district, John C. Liu, one of the people responsible for helping to establish Burial Ground’s present designation, also spoke during the event about the burial ground’s history. When the speeches were done, we helped to put the chairs away. Maureen Regan kindly provided us with bags of flower buds, pens, candy, hand sanitizer, and notebooks. We would like to recognize her generosity.
Thank you so much to Chief Little Fox from the Matinecock tribe, the other Native American representatives, Maureen Regan, Green Earth Urban Gardens, State Senator Liu, and the NYC Parks employees for working with us! We appreciate it and look forward to working with you in the future! Thank you so much to our amazing parent advisor team and all of our members who showed up to the event despite the heat! The Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy is healthier and better off because of your efforts!
Happy Native American Heritage Month!
Our Volunteers:
1. Jia Qi Liu: 5.5 hours
2. Sophia You: 5.5 hours
3. Ioknor Lin: 5.5 hours
4. Ioklee Lin: 5.5 hours
5. Stephanie You: 5.5 hours
6. Vicki Lin: 5.5 hours
7. Paxton Xu: 5.5 hours
8. Nerissa Xu: 5.5 hours
9. Selena You: 5.5 hours
10. Ryan Wu: 5.5 hours
11. Henry Jiang: 5 hours
12. Adrian Jiang: 5 hours
13. Anthony Lin: 5 hours
14. Zaiqing Huang: 5 hours
15. Ruolin Gao: 5 hours
16. Haoze Gao: 5 hours
17. Sophia Xu: 5 hours
18. Anthony Xu: 5 hours
19. Zhiheng Zhou: 5 hours
20. Evan Li: 5 hour
21. Alexander Lu: 5 hours
22. Sophia Lu: 5 hours
23. Eason Lin: 5 hours
24. Kaisa Wu: 5 hours
25. Jiansheng Chen: 5 hours
26. Tina Chen: 5 hours
27. Winnie Lin: 5 hours
28. Zhanger Li: 5 hours
29. Albert Tang: 5 hours
30. Elina Lee: 5 hours
31. Nathan Jin: 5 hours
32. Nuoyan Chen: 5 hours
33. Nuoheng Chen: 5 hours
34. Terrence Cao: 5 hours
35. Anson Gao: 5 hours
36. Kaden He: 5 hours
37. Yuhan Lin: 5 hours
38. Ivan Cao: 5 hours
39. Matthew Lin: 4.5 hours
40. Tingyue Li: 4 hours
41. Linan Cao: 3.5 hours
42. Dylan Chen: 3.5 hours
43. Rui Zhu: 3.5 hours
44. Zihan Shi: 3.5 hours
45. Luke Chen: 3 hours
46. Vincent He: 3 hours
47. Eric Zheng: 3 hours
48. Jason Liu: 3 hours
49. Fayee Chen: 3 hours
50. Tyrone Li: 3 hours
51. Tian Zhu Xie: 3 hours
52. Justin Cheong: 2.5 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Fannie Li: 7 hours
Karen Liao: 7 hours
Faye Liu: 7 hours
Report Written by: Anthony Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu
