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The Bryn Mawr
Beautiful Foundation
began as a
memorial tribute to Philip Gianacova,
a Bryn Mawr business owner. Phil spent many
hours picking up trash, sweeping streets, and planting flowers, all to
keep Bryn
Mawr beautiful. When Phil died suddenly in
January 1993, his family requested that, in lieu of flowers, the people
of Bryn
Mawr find a way to continue his efforts to beautify Bryn Mawr. In March
1994, Lower
Merion Township approved the construction of a brick and flagstone
memorial garden
to Phil, on township property, next to the Community Center, on Bryn
Mawr Avenue.
On April 14, 1994, Bryn Mawr Beautiful was
incorporated, with representatives from the Bryn Mawr Civic
Association, the Bryn
Mawr Business Association, Bryn Mawr Rotary, and the Bryn Mawr Kiwanis
Club. Ed
Begosian was the first president. On Sept. 30, 1994, the Philip
Gianacova Memorial
Garden was dedicated.
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Phil's
vision included
flowers in the town, and Bryn Mawr Beautiful developed a townscape
program
consisting of 12 large planters, placed by the railroad station and
around town,
2S light posts hanging baskets along the Avenue and by the Station, and
25 flower
boxes placed on public walls, fences, and the Morris Ave. railroad
bridge.
We
signed on to the Pennsylvania
Adopt-A-Highway Program. Led
by the Bryn
Mawr Rotary Club, we clean Lancaster Ave. four times a year. In 1999,
we jointly
sponsored the "Bryn Mawr Streetscape Study” which resulted in the
creation
of the Hayden Alley garden (next to Agostino), the Town Center garden
(in Lot #7,
across from the Post Office), and what has become known as the Gazebo
Garden.
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Bryn
Mawr Beautiful provides all
the plants, watering and maintaining all the flowers in Bryn Mawr. We
encourage
each shop to maintain a floral display. Every spring, we plant pansies
around
the train station, and in May, we plant our main floral display in the
baskets on
the light poles on Lancaster & Bryn Mawr Aves. Although most of
the garden maintenance
is done by volunteers, the baskets on the light poles must be watered
on a daily
basis, and for this we employ 2 people. Originally,
our plantings were limited by access to water, so there were large gaps
in the
flower display along Lancaster Ave. This year, we leased a utility
vehicle, which
carries its own water supply and pump, which allowed us to provide a
continuous
flower display from Roberts Rd to the Aqua buildings, and to water
gardens which
are not close to a water source. This has
been revolutionary for us, and we intend to expand our light pole
planter program
eastward. The purchase of the watering vehicle is crucial to these
plans.
Over the years, we have expanded
our efforts to keep the sidewalks in Bryn Mawr clean. Each summer, we
employ a
couple of local teenagers to pick up litter on a daily basis. In the
fall, we remove
the flowers from the baskets and boxes and we clean the parking cutouts
of leaves
and debris. In the late fall, we fill the baskets with pine and spruce
greens to
help provide the spirit of the holiday season. Our program is run
entirely by
volunteers and our major funding comes from the Bryn Mawr Business
Association,
Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr Rotary, Aqua, the Bryn Mawr Trust Co.,
and local
business owners and residents. Bryn Mawr Beautiful is a 501(c)(3)
organization.
Our annual budget for these activities
is $15,000. We believe in Bryn Mawr and we hope to continue our work
and interest
more people to volunteer their time and contribute to our
funding.
It’s
all about
our hometown.
Harold
Wilson, President
Sue
Barone Davis, Treasurer
Bobbie
McElroy, Secretary
Contact:
Hank Wilson
PO Box 10 Bryn
Mawr, PA 19010
610-525-2366
New
watering cart
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