Philadelphia, December 1, 2014 – TreePhilly recently announced the winners of their first-ever Trees of Philly Story Contest. This contest invited Philadelphians to send in pictures and stories of between 50-250 words about their favorite trees. The goals of the contest were to spread awareness about TreePhilly's initiatives and to help reinforce the emotional bond between Philadelphians and their environment.

The contest garnered close to 120 stories from Philadelphians across the city. Although each story submitted made it clear that Philadelphia is a city of  tree lovers, Gail Parker's story about her tree "Margy," named in honor of her late cousin, was selected as the contest winner. Parker will receive nearly $300 worth of gardening supplies donated by Primex Garden Center in Glenside. Second place went to Laura Jamieson's story about her family's plum tree, and honorable mentions went to Katharine Novak, Leslie Willis-Lowry, and Dr. Don Stoltz. All winners and honorable mentions will receive prizes donated by Primex and Yards Brewering Company, and stories will be featured on TreePhilly's website at treephilly.org.

The Winning Story:

Many years ago a friend of mine had a red bud tree in her yard. I had never seen one before but was impressed with its beautiful flowers and black bark. I hoped someday to own one. Imagine my delight when my husband and I won a tree from your program and discovered one of the choices was a red bud! About the same time we went to pick up our tree, my very special second cousin died. Her nickname was Margy (hard g) so I told my husband we should name the tree after her. I put a little memorial bench at the base that has a nice verse of remembrance on it. The pictures are from last May when our "Margy" bloomed. You know the neat part about red buds is they have these branches that gently grab you as you walk by the tree. Or, maybe, it is just the spirit of the lady for whom I named my red bud letting me know she approves of my naming a tree for her and that she is thinking of me? Thank you so much for this beautiful tree.