McLean Students, Vinson Hall Residents Team Up For Earth Day

Press Release: Navy Marine Coast Guard Residence Foundation/Vinson Hall Retirement Community

McLean, VA, April 21, 2025 − Vinson Hall hosted students from The Potomac School and Chesterbrook Elementary School, their neighbors in McLean, for the retirement community’s second annual intergenerational celebration of the Earth on April 21.

In the mid-morning, 36 middle- and upper-school students from The Potomac School arrived by school bus to the Vinson Hall campus, which sits on 23 acres in the Chesterbrook area of McLean. They were paired with Vinson Hall residents who shared their gardening wisdom while working alongside the students, digging, raking and planting pots and flower beds at the entrances to the campus’s five buildings.

Once the flowers were planted and the gardening done, the Potomac School students and Vinson Hall residents were joined by 12 5th and 6th grade students, members of the Eco Club from Chesterbook Elementary School, which is adjacent to Vinson Hall, for a tree planting ceremony.

Vinson Hall CEO Rob Roe welcomed the crowd of 75 that had gathered and thanked the students for helping Vinson Hall residents celebrate Earth Day. “Vinson Hall has been part of McLean for decades, and this is a great community building event that we really enjoy every year,” he said. “We want to make a difference in our community, and it’s always good to put more trees in the ground.”

Two Norway spruce trees were positioned in holes that had been pre-dug by contractors from Nova Arborists and Alpha & Omega Solutions Landscaping. The students then used shovels and hand trowels to contribute scoops of soil to cover the root balls. After the ceremony, the crowd assembled at the fountain near the campus’ historic 250-year-old willow oak tree to share in boxed lunches, cookies and lemonade. As students said their goodbyes, they received packets of flower seeds as a parting gift, to thank them for participating in Vinson Hall’s Earth Day celebration.

Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean, Virginia, is a highly regarded non-profit
continuing care community of about 400 residents supported by the Navy Marine Coast
Guard Residence Foundation. Conceived by the Navy Officers’ Wives’ Club of
Washington, D.C. as a home for Navy officer widows, it has been part of the McLean
community since 1969. Today, it provides a continuum of care for older adults, with or
without a military affiliation, from independent living to assisted living and nursing care
to memory care. For more information about Vinson Hall Retirement Community, please
visit: https://www.vinsonhall.org/