Calusa Garden Club Celebrates Florida Arbor Day

Calusa Garden Club has celebrated Florida Arbor Day, which was January 20, 2023, for the past six years by planting a native Florida tree in Leigh Plummer Park. This year, on the third Friday in January, the Club planted a gumbo limbo tree in the park and invited the city of Marco Island officials and Parks and Recreation Department to join them in the tree planting ceremony. Club member Nanette Baumgardner chaired the event, and Club president Susan Neustadt gave welcoming remarks. 

Leigh Plummer Park was chosen by the Club for the gumbo limbo tree planting because the garden club originally co-operated with Collier County in 1984 to establish the park as a bird sanctuary and site for nature education featuring native Florida plants. The park was named for Marco Island resident Leigh Plummer who was very active in Marco Island Civic Association prior to Marco Island becoming a city.  His wife was a member of Calusa Garden Club and she and Plummer enjoyed tending to the native plantings in the park. 

The gumbo limbo tree planting ceremony was attended by Marco Island Assistant City Manager Casey Lucius in addition to members of the Department of Parks and Recreation including Jill Cartaya, Dawn Snyder, Martha Montgomery and Heather Reed. About twenty members of Calusa Garden Club were present, as well as Everglades Native Designs owner Erik Jadaszewski and his tree planting crew.  Jadaszewski donated the gumbo limbo tree and the tree planting services. 

Club President Susan Neustadt welcomed the event attendees and reviewed the history of Leigh Plummer Park and the Club’s association with the park. She thanked the City of Marco Island for co-operating with the Club in choosing the location for the tree and keeping it alive while it was newly planted. Neustadt also told those present that Calusa Garden Club plans to continue its donations to the park by maintaining the new garden the Club has established at the entrance to the park in addition to planting native trees on Florida Arbor Days in the future.

City Manager Michael McNees and City Council Member Darrin Palumbo also attended the event and are pictured with other attendees near the newly planted gumbo limbo tree.