New York Cares Volunteers Groom Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum's Garden

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Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum was one of 80 sites for New York Cares’ annual spring greening day on Saturday.

More than 5,000 volunteers worked throughout New York City from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.Nearly 100 of those volunteers were on site at Bartow-Pell, cleaning up brush piles, digging up tulips, composting flower beds, deadheading wildflowers, and preparing the Children’s Garden for school groups.

Many of the day’s volunteers—previously strangers to this hidden gem in the Bronx—were captivated by the mansion, its terraced gardens and four centuries of history.

Florence Dixon, an Aon employee who lives in Yonkers, said, “It’s the first time I’ve been to Bartow-Pell. I’m enjoying it and will come back again for the Open House Weekend.”

Pelham resident and Bartow-Pell board member Cynthia Brown said, “It’s fun to see how people respond so positively when they get here. Bartow-Pell is like a secret garden to me. It’s very peaceful.”

Volunteers’ efforts helped prepare the site for Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum’s Beauty in the Bronx Open House Weekend on May 4-6, being held in celebration of National Preservation Month.

Free Open House Weekend events will include "Owls and Falcons and Skunks, Oh My!," a presentation by Bobby and Kathy Horvath of the Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation, who will bring a wonderful assortment of rescued owls, birds of prey, and other animals for visitors to meet first hand; and "Cracked Walnuts," the washboard and banjo duo of Jeff and Jan Ausfahl, who will perform Civil War-era classics, folk songs, and traditional jigs and reels. Free garden and mansion tours, the Bronx Seaside Trolley, hikes, and children’s games are also scheduled. For more details on the Open House Weekend – or to see photos of the New York Cares volunteers hard at work – visit facebook.com/bartowpell.

A National Historic Landmark and part of New York City’s largest park, Bartow-Pell is the last of the 19th-century country estates once found throughout the Pelham Bay area. For event registration or for more information, call 718-885-1461 or email info@bpmm.org.

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