D
avey crews agreed to complete the
ultimate task—to prune more than 578
trees in less than one month—in anticipation
for Pope Francis' first visit to the U.S.
For such a revolutionary occasion, the City
of Philadelphia took no shortcuts for the
Papal's visit. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation
Services, a Davey client, knew everything had
to be perfect, from the city floor up to the trees,
for the Papal's World Meeting of Families.
That is why city officials called Phil Snyder,
operations vice president of the East Atlantic
region. They asked if his crews could prune
more than 578 trees spanning the beautiful one-
mile-long Benjamin Franklin Parkway in order
for the anticipated one million-plus attendees to
have a clear view of the Pope during the nation-
ally broadcasted Festival of Families event.
Snyder agreed to this "monumental" task, but
with only one month to complete the project,
he knew he had to call all Philadelphia-area
Idea submitted by: Chris Miller, district manager, King of Prussia R/C
R/C district managers to see who would be
available and willing to help out. Jason Parker,
district manager of the North Philadelphia
R/C office, and Chris Miller, district manager
of the King of Prussia R/C office, ultimately
volunteered their crews to complete the job.
"This was no easy task," Miller says. "At one
point, I had almost half of my office working
there in addition to two to three crew members
from Parker's office."
Miller says the city asked them to prune the
trees at least nine to 12 feet from ground level,
so attendees wouldn't climb the trees in order
to get a better view of the Pope during the
Festival of Families.
"Our job was to create the greatest viewing
arena for the public," Miller says. "I have never
worked on a project like that. It came out great
and I'm so proud of the team for doing such
excellent work. The city inspector of our job
was more than pleased."
Chris Miller captured a view of the
trees Davey pruned in Philadelphia
from the top of City Hall.
November/December 2015 | 13
A Monumental Task for
a Monumental Figure
A view of the beautiful one-mile-long
Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Hamza Mastroddi climbs
one of the 578 trees that
needed to be pruned for
Pope Francis' first visit
to the U.S.
Luis Rodriguez gives a thumbs up
after a hard day's work in Philadelphia.
