Barbara Bluejay Michalski prepared the earth this month for planting of an Eastern red cedar tree next to Aquetong Spring. The tree replaces a decayed cedar that had been planted by her grandfather, Chief Whippoorwill, Bill Thompson, three decades earlier.
The cedar and a sugar maple were special additions to Aquetong Spring Park to fulfill a request by the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania for use in tribal ceremonial practices. Aquetong Spring, a site of Lenape activity for centuries before the Europeans arrived, continues to play an important role in tribal ceremonies.
Michalski, who is a liaison between the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania and the Aquetong Spring Park Advisory Committee, blessed the trees on April 19, just prior to the park’s closing for several months of construction.
Attending the planting ceremony were members of the Aquetong Spring Park Advisory Committee, Township Manager Dennis Carney (who arranged the logistics) and Peter Schwalm and staff of PLS Landscaping in Solebury.
According to the Solebury Township Historical Society, “The spring known as Aquetong by the original inhabitants of the land, the Lenni-Lenape, and known as Ingham Springs by European settlers is located just off Lower Mountain Road in Solebury Township. The spring water that flows at the rate of 2,000 gallons per minute was used to power mills along the Aquetong Creek. In 1870 a dam was built to create the lake, and now that dam has been removed and the creek will return to its natural, pre-1870 state.”
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
