Join the Friends of the Public Garden, with event partners Sofar, City Awake, Liteitup! and the Hummus Shop on Thursday, October 9 from 5 – 9 at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common. SoFar Sounds will feature Boston-based musicians for an evening of free music, bites, and outdoor fun. Free!
After almost 7 years of prodding, planning, public meetings, and budget issues the Boston Parks Department will be implementing this new design for the Kenmore Mall this fall. This is the last block of the Mall that has Landmark status and it has long been “left out”. This new design will upgrade the paving, electrical service and lighting, and add irrigation. New trees will be planted, the Lombard Light repositioned and new seating and planting beds installed. There may be a role for Garden Club members to help out with the new perennial beds. Stay tuned. This one-acre block of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall is located in Kenmore Square west of Charlesgate. The park includes lawn, trees and brick plazas. For more information, and to sign up for updates, visit www.boston.gov
Get ready for an unforgettable challenge at the Boston Parks and Recreation’s First Annual Duck-Boat-Pull —a brand-new event taking place in the heart of the Boston Common on Saturday, April 12, where teams of 10 will race against the clock to pull a 21,000-pound duck boat across a designated course. Think you’ve got what it takes to out-pull the competition?
This exciting event isn’t just about muscle—every pull you make directly benefits local youth sports and fitness programs that keep our kids active, healthy, and thriving. All proceeds go toward funding essential sports leagues, tournaments, and fitness initiatives managed by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department for all of Boston’s youth.
This event is in partnership with the Boston Duck Tours. The event is free to watch, and teams of ten will pay $1,000 in support of Boston’s Youth Sports. To sign up contact Tiffany Clark at 617-233-2305, or send an email.
The Henry Lee Fund for Boston Parks aims to enhance public greenspaces throughout Boston by providing grants to support the care of trees and turf, sculpture maintenance, and special projects in neighborhood parks where the needs are clear, but the resources are limited. Friends President Emeritus Henry Lee demonstrated a lifelong commitment to public greenspace and historic preservation throughout Boston. Best known as one of the founders of Friends of the Public Garden and its leader for 41 years, Henry was an ardent champion of our entire urban park system. A staunch advocate for the restoration of sculpture throughout the city, he also helped to revive the city’s Art Commission in the 1980s.
In recognition of his commitment to all our city’s parks, and in celebration of his 99th birthday, Friends of the Public Garden established The Henry Lee Fund for Boston Parks. This new fund embodies Henry’s commitment to equity in the quality of our public greenspaces. Grants will be supported by an endowment created by the Friends of the Public Garden, established with a $250,000 commitment from our Board. Administered by the Friends, grant decisions will be made by a committee that includes FOPG staff and board, representatives of the Boston Parks & Recreation Department, community volunteers, and the Friends’ arboriculture and sculpture consultants. Learn more, donate, or apply at https://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/leefund/ Awardees will be notified January 12, 2025. For 2024, the Friends of the Public Garden will distribute nearly $40,000 with a grant maximum of $5,000.
The Friends of the Public Garden, in association with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and Boston Parks Commissioner Antonia Pollak, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the first phase of construction of the Brewer Plaza and surrounding green space near the Brewer Fountain by Tremont Street on Wednesday, March 23, at noon.
The Mayor will be busy indeed as he dashes around town spreading holiday cheer beginning Monday, November 23 at Christopher Columbus Park in the North End. At 5:30 pm, he will flick the switch on 50,000 bulbs in a unique, blue and white design, which have been strung along 260 feet of trellis in the heart of the park. The free celebration will include entertainment from the North End Music and Performing Arts Center and the Ray Cavicchio Band, as well as food from Mike’s Pastry, Starbucks, the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, and Legal Sea Foods. The entire evening is sponsored by the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department.
On Wednesday, December 2, you may spot the Mayor closer to home when he joins the Friends of Copley Square, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the Salvation Army Brass Band, and the Trinity Church Children’s Choir at the official Copley Square Tree Lighting, beginning at 5:00 pm. You’ll find Santa Claus and, once again, Legal Sea Foods. The forty foot blue spruce has been sponsored by Normandy Real Estate Partners.
The next night, Thursday, December 3, from 6 – 8 pm, the City of Boston’s 68th Annual Tree Lighting takes place on the Boston Common. Sponsors WCVB-TV Channel 5 and Magic 106.7 will provide live coverage of, you guessed it, Mayor Menino, and refreshments will be provided by H.P. Hood LLC, Cabot Creamery, Nantucket Nectars and Snapple, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jazzy Apples, and New York Life (they cook?). Entertainment will include R&B singer Brian McKnight, “American Idol” Season 6 third place finalist Melinda Doolittle, the Boston Arts Academy Dance Troupe, the Masquerade cabaret troupe, and Magic 106.7’s Nancy Quill and Mike Addams. Nova Scotia again provides the tree. (Thank you to www.boston.com for the image below)
Once the Mayor has lit the Common, he’ll proceed to Arlington Street and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to illuminate the two hundred trees along the Mall with little white lights, all paid for through community support and private donations raised by the Committee to Light Commonwealth Avenue Mall. The Taj Boston will provide refreshments.
Call the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at 617-635-4505 if you need more information.
Join your neighbors and friends in lighting the Mall again this year. Funded entirely by donations, it is the neighborhood’s gift to the City. Donations are currently being solicited, large or small. Make checks payable to Committee to Light Commonwealth Avenue Mall, and mail them to the Back Bay Association, 234 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116. Donations may also be made online at www.BackBayLights.com. The Committee to Light Commonwealth Avenue Mall works with the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee of The Friends of the Public Garden and with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department.
Nancy Schon is a great friend of the City of Boston and the Boston Parks Department. You are invited to a special exhibit of the artwork of Nancy and Ellen Schon on Saturday, November 21 or Sunday, November 22, from noon – 5 pm, at 291 Otis Street, West Newton, Massachusetts. Please visit www.schon.com and www.ellenschon.com for more information about these fine artists.
Join the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park on Friday, November 13, from 7 pm – 11 pm, at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf, 296 State Street, Boston, for a wonderful 6th annual Gala to raise money to support the Christopher Columbus Park. There will be a cocktail hour, dinner, dancing, & a silent auction. The ticket price is $150, and you may reserve by emailing info@foccp.org, or logging on to www.foccp.org/Gala.html.
The Friends of Hayes Park, Inc. is a group of public-spirited neighbors dedicated to maintaining Hayes Park, a green gem located at the corner of Warren Avenue and West Canton Street in Boston’s South End. Organized in 1987 to redesign what was then a derelict, concrete-paved lot, the Friends now have a membership numbering more than 250 families. Each year, members donate an extraordinary 1,400 hours to keep the park beautiful.
Since renovating the park in 1992, the Friends, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, has been a “Park Partner†with the Boston Parks Department. The funds needed to maintain the park are all provided by the Friends. In addition, the Friends host free community events, that draw visitors from all across the city — including an annual May Day, Summer Picnic, Harvestfest, and Christmas Caroling — and support local partners, organizing such events as canned goods collections for a local food pantry, and for the last 18 years, sponsoring a South End Little League Baseball team, the Hayes Park Yankees.
The group’s annual Auction will take place Sunday, October 25, beginning at 4:00 pm at the Boston Ballet Building, 19 Clarendon Street in Boston. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and may be purchased on line at www.hayespark.org. An enticing sample of auction items can be found on their home page, so we encourage you to support this fine organization.
