Ramages make $120,000 gift to Arboretum's marsh meadow

University Park, Pa. — The Arboretum at Penn State continues to develop, thanks to gifts from University alumni and friends. Among the most recent commitments is a $120,000 pledge from James and Lynn Ramage for the Arboretum's marsh meadow, part of the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens. The meadow will be named for the Ramages in recognition of their generosity.

James Ramage earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural and biological science from Penn State in 1963 and a veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. He operated his own small-animal veterinary practice, with Lynn at various times working as business manager, technician and surgical assistant, for 30 years. The Ramages are now retired.

James Ramage said their love of gardening led them to make their gift to the University.

"When Lynn and I travel, we make it a point to visit various gardens and arboretums," he explained. "Penn State is one of the few land-grant universities without an arboretum, so when we heard that it was going to develop this arboretum, we were delighted. And we like the idea of giving back to the University."

Residents of Ford City, the Ramages are both Penn State Master Gardeners and support several horticultural societies. Lynn has served as president of the Kittanning Garden Club, and Jim is a member of the American Conifer Society. They have been developing a 37-acre property of their own that boasts thousands of bulbs and hundreds of trees, with an extensive hosta collection and 14 varieties of oak.

Lynn Ramage said that efforts to keep the marsh meadow as a "natural setting" especially appealed to her and Jim. "It's going to be such an inviting area, a great big rain garden with wonderful trees.

"It's very important to us to encourage public use of gardens," she added. "The Arboretum, with its proximity to campus, will attract all sorts of students and visitors and help to create many new gardeners, amateur and professional. We are so happy to be able to be stewards and especially to help with the portion we are funding. We wanted to jump on the bandwagon right away."

The Aboretum at Penn State is located on a parcel of land immediately adjacent to Penn State's University Park campus, with Park Avenue as its southwest border. The Dr. James J. and Lynn D. Ramage Marsh Meadow will occupy a low area along Park Avenue and provide a significant landscape accent to the botanic gardens as well as the larger Arboretum. The meadow will be planted with tall switchgrass that can withstand occasional storm water runoff. Bald-cypress trees, weeping willows, and red- and yellow-stemmed dogwoods will be planted around the perimeter of the meadow as a framework that will offer year-round interest and create the impression of a marsh or pond surrounded by banks of trees and plants. A network of winding paths will link to a pavilion located in the center of the meadow, a garden entrance on the slope above the meadow, and the future Education Center.

The Ramages are longtime philanthropists to the University, supporting athletics, Penn State New Kensington, and the College of Agricultural Sciences in addition to the Arboretum. Lynn Ramage's father, Dee Orcutt, is a graduate of the School of Forest Resources, and the Ramages' two children also are Penn State alumni.

The Arboretum at Penn State, occupying nearly 370 acres between Park Avenue and the Mount Nittany Expressway on the University Park campus, will be open to the public. The Arboretum depends almost entirely on private support, and is expected to be a major cultural and tourist destination in central Pennsylvania, attracting nearly 200,000 visitors annually. Work is currently under way by contractor Leonard S. Fiore of Altoona, and is scheduled for completion this spring.

Visit http://www.arboretum.psu.edu for more information about the Smith Botanic Gardens and the Arboretum at Penn State.