Title
Honoring and recognizing Lori "Tree Queen" Maple Hayes, on the occasion of her retirement, for her vision, leadership, integrity, and unwavering dedication to curating Philadelphia's parks, trees, and greenery over her 42-year career of service to the City of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, Lori Maple Hayes finishes her career as the Philadelphia Director of Urban Forestry. Lori is a Certified Arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture and a Penn State Master Gardener. Throughout her career, she has served under six Mayors and curated almost every major park in the City of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Lori was raised in a Germantown row home and yearned for green spaces in her youth. She attended Walter Biddle Saul High School, where she studied Agricultural Sciences. Lori then finished her education at Penn State and Temple University, where she graduated with a degree in horticulture; and
WHEREAS, Lori began working for the City of Philadelphia in 1981 at the Fairmount Park Commission. At first a student summer intern, she started by cutting grass on Benjamin Franklin Boulevard and fell in love with the work. It did not take long for her to decide that this was the kind of work she wanted to do with her life; and
WHEREAS, One of Lori's proudest moments was when she passed the Grounds Maintenance Worker 1 test and began a permanent appointment working for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. She steadily rose through the ranks of Grounds Maintenance Workers, soon becoming a Grounds Maintenance Crew Chief. Before long, she was promoted to Landscape Projects Technician, and then to Park District Manager, where she ran the Fairmount Park Organic Recycling Center in West Park; and
WHEREAS, Throughout her tenure as Park District Manager, Lori oversaw the Horticulture Center, the historic Sofuso Japanese House, Franklin D. Roosevelt Park, and Cobbs Creek. Although she loved her work at each park, her heart always drew her toward horticulture, which...
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