Green Hill Cemetery hosted a Fall Foliage Tree Tour, advancing its mission as a thriving Arboretum
By Robb Helfrick
Green Hill Cemetery invited students from Waynesboro Area Senior High School and Middle School, along with the public, to its first annual Fall Foliage Tree Tour on October 21. The event was part of an ongoing celebration of Green Hill’s 2026 designation as an official arboretum. The tour demonstrated Green Hill’s commitment to educating the public about the unique specimens growing on its property, and the overall benefits trees bring to our community.
The program began with a welcome from Green Hill board member Ritchie Warner and remarks from fellow board member Tom McCloud. High School Junior Quinn Coulter, a Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Ambassador, then guided the tree tour. The event was designed as an educational program for local students, but the adults attending also enjoyed Coulter’s environmental presentation.
On a crisp autumn day with plentiful sunshine, Coulter led the group along Green Hill’s meandering lanes. He pointed out various trees, offering facts and interesting stories about each species origins. One of the first trees highlighted was the Norway Spruce, which is Green Hill’s signature species, with over 70 trees thriving in the cemetery. A glance in any direction gave visitors a stunning view of these massive evergreens. As the tour moved forward, Coulter’s presentation offered a pleasant blend of scientific facts combined with cultural tales about how trees play a significant role in humans’ daily lives.
Quinn is a member of the Envirothon Club, which challenges local students to learn about the environment and the natural world. The club has five components: current events, wildlife, forestry, soil and land use, and aquatic ecology. The students compete against other high school teams in a friendly contest that lasts the entire school year. Quinn is specializing in current events for 2026-27.
Tom McCloud complemented Coulter’s comments with expert observations, drawing on decades of experience as a tree professional. Tom first came to Waynesboro in 1974 to manage the Appalachian Nursery. He later bought that business and operated it for several decades. Tom is a Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist, a member and past President of the PA Landscape & Nursery Association, and is a member of Waynesboro’s Shade Tree Commission. Together, Coulter and McCloud formed an excellent team, which enhanced the presentation.
The tour included stops at evergreen and deciduous trees. McCloud reminded the group that while all pine trees are evergreens, not all evergreens are pine trees. Two such examples were the Southern Magnolia and the Serbian Spruce varieties.
Some of Green Hill’s deciduous trees obliged the tour by showing peak fall color, while others still displayed green leaves. The Flowering Dogwood showed a deep red hue. Other highlighted species included the Common Sassafras, Red Maple, White Oak, Gold False Cypress, Sugar Maple, and the European Weeping Beech, all in various stages of autumn transformation.
The tour sparked the guests’ curiosity. They inquired about how Green Hill maintains its trees and initiates plans for future plantings. The walk-about used a hands-on approach, as Coulter and McCloud encouraged participants to pick up and examine leaves, run their hands over tree bark, or feel the texture of evergreen needles. The tour was also a study in color, as various shades decorated the specimens and, in some cases, those characteristics gave those trees their common names.
Green Hill Cemetery is known for its scenic surroundings, which feature artistic monuments, panoramic vistas, and an undulating landscape. These elements enriched the tree tour and showed how the cemetery grounds are not only a resting place for the departed, but also a serene refuge for the living. Green Hill’s majestic trees complete the picture, a living work of art.
The tour reinforced the importance of planting, preserving, and celebrating trees, since they provide many environmental and economic benefits. Tom McCloud remarked: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”
