Pollinator
Meadow
Project
Our pollinator meadow is thriving, thanks to ongoing care and community support. This diverse landscape of grasses, flowering plants, and fruiting shrubs provides essential habitat for butterflies, moths, birds, spiders, and other insects. Volunteers are always welcome to help maintain this important and growing ecosystem.
The pollinator meadow is made possible by the Morris County Park Commission, Juidth Schleicher, and POWWW Volunteers.
In March 2023, we began working on the John Schleicher Memorial Pollinator Meadow after a year of planning. In coordination with the Morris County Park Commission, we broke ground on March 9th. On May 20th, we had a group of POWWW volunteers and board members who helped us clear weeds, spread wood chip mulch, and plant 1125 native plant plugs of 24 different species.
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In June 2023, we hired our first paid intern, Christian Mayer, with a Morris County Park Alliance grant. Christian worked 10 hours a week for three months under the direction of Mike Leone, and alongside POWWW Volunteers Nick Homyak, who tirelessly tackled the Mile a Minute vines, and more. Board member Jeff Scheidecker spread wood chips around the planting area to create a walking path.
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​​​All of this hard work began to show results starting in August and September, as the first plants began to bloom, along with many surprise native volunteers attracting an array of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. All in all, it was a very successful start to an exciting project, made possible by a coordinated group effort with generous financial support from Judith Schleicher and her family, the Morris County Park Alliance, and many volunteer hours.
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In 2024, we expanded the planted area, added a memorial bench, and volunteers spent numerous hours weeding and maintaining the meadow. In 2025, Beautiful educational signage, was installed at the meadow with generous financial support from co-founder Judith Schleicher.