Rev. Pick fathers more than a congregation

In 1978, St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church opened the doors of its new building. But it wasn’t just the church that Rev. Edward Pick built, he also helped create the landscape.

“When we started, we had no vegetation,” Pick says about the bare 12.5 acres.

Thanks to Pick, parishioners are now greeted at the entrance of the church by wide trees with gray bark, glossy leaves and vines of different widths draping from the top branches. The trees are Indian banyans.

Banyan Street in Boca Grande is a road lined with the same trees, and Boca Grande is where Pastor Emeritus Pick lived before moving in 1973 to Longboat Key.

“I always admired them,” he says.

In 1978, Pick took 100 2-foot-tall cuttings from the trees in Boca Grande. He carefully nurtured them using a special water-soaking process and transplanted them to the grounds of St. Mary. There are nine remaining trees today.

Pick has also planted ficus and cedar trees on the grounds.

“They are sometimes confused as ficus trees,” Pick says about the banyans.

The Indian banyan is in the ficus family — ficus benghalensis is its scientific name. It is unique for its aerial roots, which stem from branches and plant themselves into the ground and form secondary trunks. Their growth doesn’t typically transcend 70 feet tall; the width is where the tree really grows over time.

The ones that survived, “grew like mad,” Pick says. His favorite is the tree at the south side of the entrance. Its width spans the length of about two cars. He has watched the trees grow and develop over time, which is an exciting process for him.

“Not having a family myself, I take a special interest in the development of things like this,” he says. “(They are) a part of my family, so to speak.”

He was worried when the tree at the north side of the entrance almost died in 1989 because of a cold spell. After falling to the ground, it rallied and grows strong today.

It seems fitting that the banyan tree, the national tree of India, is sacred in Hindu culture. It represents eternal life.

“We’ve seen many people come and go,” Pick says. “Many people important to the parish have passed on, and others have come in.”

The banyans have witnessed it all.

Five Things You Didn’t Know
• The Rev. Edward Pick has always been interested in dogs. He has had five St. Bernards and an English bulldog throughout the years. He now has a Clumber spaniel named Joshua.
• Pick is a sports fanatic. He hails from Cincinnati, which explains his love for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. But he tries to watch as much baseball as possible and can tell you about other teams, too.
• Pick was named the first pastor of the St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church, on Thanksgiving weekend in 1973.
• Pick has had the same cook, Constance Pla, for the past 20 years. She says his favorite food is rack of lamb, but “he loves most all foods and isn’t picky.”
• Pick loves swimming, and swims almost every day. Although, he will probably have to take a break from one of his favorite activities when he gets a knee operation in the next month.