Philly's 'Tree Lady' to retire after 42 years of serving Fairmount Park
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Some call her 'Tree Lady.' Others call her 'Tree Queen.' And Lori Maple Hayes has earned both nicknames over her 42-year-career in Fairmount Park.
"When I got the job here, I worked in the greenhouses at the Horticultural Center for many years," said Hayes, who is now the Director of Urban Forestry with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation (PPR).
She had previously worked for the Fairmount Park Commission before it merged with the City of Philadelphia Department of Recreation to become PPR in 2010.
Over the years, Hayes has answered hundreds of calls to tend to trees around the city. And now, a new tree has been planted in her honor.
The natural resource management class at W.B. Saul High School dedicated one of several trees to Hayes during an Arbor Day tree planting in April of 2023.
However, while the planting was taking place, Hayes was ringing the bell on completing treatment for breast cancer.
To make up for it, the students and their teacher invited Hayes back to the garden to visit the tree and eat lunch with ingredients grown and harvested on property.
"I hope the tree lives and that my grandson, he can come out and say, 'This tree was planted for my mom mom,'" said Hayes. "That would make the whole world for me."
Hayes officially retires in October of 2023.
To learn more about the work of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, visit their website.
Philadelphia Parks and Recreation employees assisted with the collection of video for this story.
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