More than 500 people attended Morris Arboretum & Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania’s Moonlight & Roses fundraising gala on Friday.

The annual event raises funds for the arboretum’s programming, plant science research and horticultural collections. For its 45th year, the event sold out for the first time and secured its highest turnout ever.

Morris officials honored former Board of Advisors chair Ellen Nalle Hass and Bartlett Tree Experts for their environmental stewardship at the gala.

Hass, a Chestnut Hill resident and longtime member of Morris, was a member of the board for two decades.

“Ellen has been such an important leader here for so many years. And she’s still involved,” Bill Cullina, the F. Otto Haas executive director at Morris, told the Local at the event.

Hass led the board through multiple transitional periods, including the COVID-19 lockdown and the late Paul Meyer’s retirement as executive director in 2019. During her tenture, Hass helped with fundraising and recruiting board members.

Hass grew up in Chestnut Hill and would often spend her weekends at Morris and Wissahickon Valley Park.

“I go to nature to be healed and soothed, and to get my senses sorted out,” she said in her speech Friday. “And in a world right now where we are being bombarded by so many things, as well as online, our phones, everything. It’s so important for all of us to come to places like this and have our senses sorted out. It’s the most important thing that we can do. I’m so happy you’re all here.”

Hass told the Local that the recognition from Morris is “a real honor.”

“It’s the best. The showing [at this event] is amazing. To me, it’s a reflection of people who love this place, but how much they need it, too,” she said.

Morris also honored Bartlett Tree Experts, a longtime family-run tree service company that operates more than 170 offices across the world. The Connecticut-based business works to raise awareness about the benefits of planting trees. Every year, its arborists distribute more than 25,000 tree seedlings to communities for restoration efforts through its Legacy Tree Program. Apart from tree care, experts at Bartlett Tree’s laboratories conduct research on plant pathology, entomology and horticulture to support aborists.

Robert A. Bartlett, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Bartlett Tree Experts, was recently awarded the Elizabeth Medal of Honour by the Royal Horticultural Society for his commitment to advancing and supporting horticultural research. He is the first American to receive the Elizabeth Medal of Honour, which was created in 2023 in memory of Queen Elizabeth II. Bartlett Tree Experts opened an arboretum and research facility in Berkshire, England, last year.

Addressing attendees on Friday, Bartlett said the business’s scientists are currently researching treatments for beech leaf disease, which he called one of the fastest-spreading problems with trees that he’s ever seen. The disease has killed American beech trees in woodlands across North America, including in Philadelphia.

“We’re constantly working on making trees healthier and making trees better and making people’s lives better,” Bartlett said on Friday. “And I’m very happy and very fortunate to be part of the family…we have wonderful employees, and I can’t thank you enough for this award.”

Cullina said Bartlett has been a helpful resource to Morris experts, with their research and tree tending methods. He is excited about Bartlett’s research on beech leaf disease, as the treatment would help protect the collection of beech trees at Morris.

The event concluded with gatherings at the Rose Garden, Pennock Flower Walk and Garden Railway.