Lamont McClure and the Department of Parks and Recreation will hold a ceremony to celebrate the planting of edible nut and fruit trees on Monday, November 1^st at 11:00AM on the east side of Louise Moore Park, Pavilion #5. Northampton County will commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Hershey Nursery as it establishes a repository for John Hershey’s trees. A variety of nuts will be available for participants to try.

John Hershey (b. 1910, d. 1967) was at the forefront of the agroforestry movement and his nursery was known to provide high-caliber stock to both professional and amateur growers. The trees planted at Louise Moore Park are grafted with stock from The Hershey Nursery in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. At one time, The Hershey Nursery was once considered America’s number one food crop farm and the trees Hershey developed some of the best ever produced.

The Parks Department has planted at least 30 trees in both turf and meadow areas in Louise Moore Park this October and may plant additional trees on other county land in the future.

Climate change will bring unpredictable weather patterns and temperature extremes to our area. The majority of trees collected by Hershey came from farmers in the Deep South where summer highs and heat indexes resemble what is projected for this region in the next 50 years.