Visitors to Stanley Park tomorrow might question the sanity of people in the middle of the soccer field who will be seen turning cartwheels.
However, the cartwheelers have their minds – and hearts – in the right place, for they are doing cartwheels for the 11th cartwheelathon to benefit the Westfield Arboretum, formerly the Downtown Arboretum, and efforts to plant trees in the city.
The project began in 1999 when a group of Westfield residents were concerned about the state of many of the trees in Westfield, according to Cynthia Hartdegen, a founder of the Arboretum.
Many of the established trees in the city had been planted shortly after the Great Depression in the 1930’s, she said, and were getting very old and very dangerous. As a result, some of them were getting cut down but they weren’t getting replaced with new ones.
So, the Downtown Arboretum was born.
Once established, the members realized they needed to raise some funds. Hartdegen came up with an idea for a cartwheelathon.
“Cartwheels had never been done before.” Hartdegen chuckled, “We needed something that could be counted and cartwheels were just a lot easier to count.”
Hartdegen was responsible for organizing the cartwheelathon annually at Stanley Park, where participants raised money to purchase trees and plant them.
Hartdegen said they were able to raise enough money to plant at least a few trees in the city each year. She said that one year the event raised as much as $2,000.
This year however, a pair of high school students, Tiana Darling and Libby Hickson Azocar, will be organizing the event.
The two students have been participants at the event since their days in elementary school and are ready to take charge.
“I was probably 8 when I first participated and kept doing it until I was about 12,” said Darling. “This is my first year organizing it.”
The event works like many charity marathons. During a half-hour period, participants will do as many cartwheels as they can. Forward rolls and tumbles are also permitted for younger kids who aren’t quite built for cartwheels yet or for adults whose cartwheel days are behind them.
Everyone is encouraged to participate.
Participants are asked to find sponsors who will make a contribution for each cartwheel they make, or who will make a flat rate contribution.
“The more money we raise, the more trees we can plant,” said Hartdegen. “We can plant more trees on the tree belts around the downtown area and Main Street.”
The event will take place tomorrow at 1:30 at Stanley Park near the soccer fields. For further questions and information about the event, or the Arboretum itself, e-mail [email protected].
