MARIETTA, Pa. (WHTM) – It’s cherry blossom season and for Marietta, Pennsylvania residents it means their town will be transformed into a beautiful blooming oasis.

“The trees are just so impressive and they are loved by the community,” said Stephen Ulrich, president of the Marietta Area Business Association (MABA). “Particularly in April, it’s just gorgeous for a couple of weeks. Really like a kind of awe-inspiring part of Marietta.”

Central Pennsylvania residents don’t have to trek to Washington D.C. to experience the iconic stunning pink flowers. There is a roughly half-mile stretch of about 150 cherry blossom trees lining the railroad on Front Street in the quaint river town of Marietta.

These trees were planted by former resident James Sagris around the 1990s.

“He deserves the credit for initiating the move to get cherry trees on Front Street,” said Bob Heiserman, the treasurer of MABA. “He negotiated with Norfolk Southern and got permission to plant.”

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Sagris was a world-renowned pottery restorer who traveled the world. He even had a hand in restoring ancient Roman pottery when he traveled to Rome. Heiserman, who owns Donegal Real Estate, helped Sagris sell his home in Marietta when he moved to Delaware.

No one knows for sure what motivated Sagris, who passed several years ago, to plant the trees. However, Heiserman recalls a conversation he had with Sagris when he sold his home that sheds some light on why he planted cherry blossoms.

“I spoke with James,” Heiserman said. “I can’t really say what motivated (him), but he just thought that site needed something special. He had been to Washington and he saw the cherry blossoms and he was motivated to bring something like that to Marietta.”

The trees are still standing today thanks to the careful care of volunteers. Heiserman is one of these volunteers who has been mowing the area with the trees since the 90s.

“Every week starting in April I’ll be mowing the grass under the trees,” Heiserman said.

Heiserman says he has gone through several lawnmowers throughout the years, one of which even caught fire underneath him while he was tending to the trees.

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A general cleanup is also held at least once a year where low-hanging limbs are cut down and other general maintenance is done on the trees and the surrounding land.

The funds for the trees’ upkeep come from proceeds from multiple community events held throughout the year in Marietta. The events held by the Business Association Board in Marietta directly benefit the beautification of Marietta, including maintaining the cherry blossom trees.

Some of the events include River Fest in June, which is a tri-borough event involving Wrightsville, Columbia and Marietta centered around the historic burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville bridge during the Civil War, and the Blues and Brews event in October.

There are two events specifically centered around the trees.

The Plein Air painting competition coincides with the blooming of the cherry blossom trees. It involves 50 artists who spend seven days outside painting around Marietta and Columbia, using the trees as inspiration.

This year also marks the second annual Marietta Cherry Blossom Festival.

“The initial thought (was) why don’t we celebrate this,” Ulrich said. “We had already established some music events in Marietta along Front Street so it was kind of a natural (idea to) duplicate (the) experience.”

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The festival will be held on Saturday, April 13 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Front Street. There will be four stages with two bands per stage, over 30 artisan vendors, 20 regular vendors and about eight food trucks.

The celebration itself is free but for a $5 donation, which goes towards the cherry blossom trees, participants get a mug and a collectible sticker.

Although most of the trees are still going strong, some of them have had issues such as disease, dying of old age and even some human tampering. These events not only celebrate the special trees but help to ensure the trees are around for generations to come.

“We’re trying to keep them alive as long as possible and figure out what the next step is,” Ulrich said.

These soft pink flowered trees mean a lot to the Marietta community. Sagris’ vision has now become a trademark of the Lancaster County town that sits along the Susquehanna River. Ulrich, Heiserman and other Marietta residents are doing their best to preserve the cherry blossoms.

“People really appreciate that time in April when they’re in full bloom,” Heiserman said. “With the Northwest River Trail in place now we get a lot of visitors that come up in April knowing that (the) trees are going to blossom then. I think the community is proud of the trees.”

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