al·der
/ˈôldər/
noun
noun: alder; plural noun: alders; noun: alder tree; plural noun: alder trees; noun: common alder; plural noun: common alders; noun: European alder; plural noun: European alders
- a widely distributed tree of the birch family which has toothed leaves and bears male catkins and woody female cones.A few years ago the Board of Aldermen changed their name to the City Council. At the time Conservator’s president Ted Kuklinski, an avid feminist, was all in with the change to the more gender neutral name ‘City Council’. Since then, after hearing from various local etymologists, he came to understand that “alders” are at the heart of the Conservator’s mission.This week the board of the Newton Conservators voted to petition the City Council to change its name to the Board of AlderFolks.Says Kuklinski “We’re the Garden City. If our governing body doesn’t support our trees, where does that leave us?.”
Kuklinski says “there’s no reason this should be a devisive issue. The Board of AlderFolks would honors both our majestic trees without disparaging or diminishing the contributions of our female elected leaders.
After the name change, I’d ask some Ents, the tree herders of Middle Earth, to relocate to the Garden City to shepherd our AlderFolks in a healthier, more ecological direction. Treebeard, the Eldest, and his young compatriot Quickbeam would provide fine leadership. In addition, they just might find the missing Ent women in either Cold Spring Park or Nahanton Woods or Webster Woods!
Madison, Wisconsin, has been governed by a council of “Alders” for some years: https://www.cityofmadison.com/Council/councilMembers/alders.cfm