Attend the opening reception on Saturday, October 11, from 1 – 3 of a temporary outdoor sculpture exhibition sponsored in part by United South End Settlements and the Boston Arts Commission, in coordination with Boston Parks and Recreation Department. On view through October 24, 2014, the exhibition is set in Franklin Square Park, 1536 Washington Street, Boston, in the South End.
These artworks will serve to engage the public in considering the relationship between art and the environment.
The Friends of the Public Garden will hold a members reception on Thursday, October 9 at 6:30 pm at the Revere Hotel, 200 Stuart Street, on Preparing for Climate Change in Boston: The Vital Role of Our Greenspaces. 2012 was the warmest year on record in the US by one full degree. By 2047, the coldest years will be warmer than today’s warmest. Brian Swett, Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space for the City of Boston, will discuss what Boston is doing to prepare for climate change, and how parks help. The Friends will also be celebrating Hill Holliday for raising the visibility of the Friends through a generous marketing campaign. Reception to follow program.
Event is free for members, but space is limited. Please rsvp by Friday October 3 at info@friensofthepublicgarden.org, or call 617-723-8144. Your membership can be renewed at this event. Motor Mart Garage is lead sponsor for this reception.
SBN’s Boston Local Food Festival is a deliciously free outdoor event that connects Massachusetts and New England eaters of all backgrounds with the abundance of fresh, nutritious local food choices available close to home. The Boston Local Food Festival is an event for all ages aimed to allow locals to taste and appreciate the variety of locally produced and harvested products grown right here in the Boston area! There will be live music performed by local musicians and fun activities for children. There will also be competitions (like the annual Seafood Throwdown, sponsored by NAMA) and demonstrations put on by local food experts.
The festival will provide access to healthy food for $6 or less, created with local ingredients. The goal of this event is to connect local farmers and producers to their consumers, strengthening the community and educating the locals in a delicious and informative way.
The festival has been endorsed by the City of Boston, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), and several leading food organizations, businesses, and farms. We also have a goal of making this a Zero Waste event. In 2012, 91% of waste was diverted from landfills!The event will take place from 11 – 5 on Sunday, September 14 on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, near the Aquarium T stop, in Boston. For more information on the Sustainable Business Network visit www.sbnmass.org.
Launched as part of Mayor Walsh’s citywide beautification initiative, the contest recognizes gardeners who have landscaped, planted flowers, trees, and shrubs, and, in the process, helped beautify Boston’s neighborhoods.
First place winners in the garden categories will receive the coveted “Golden Trowel” award from Mayor Walsh and prize packages from the Parks Department, Mahoney’s Garden Centers of Brighton and other sponsors at an awards ceremony in August in the Public Garden. Grand Prize provided by JetBlue.
Mayor Walsh will recognize Garden Contest Hall of Fame inductees this year. To be eligible to be in the Hall of Fame, a gardener must have won three or more times. Residents and businesses are encouraged to nominate their own or a neighbor’s garden, window box, or front, back, or side yard. Only gardens planted by amateur gardeners are eligible to take part in the contest. No professionally contracted work will be allowed to enter. Entrants are required to submit photographs of their garden along with an official entry form. Using these photos, judges will narrow the entrants to five finalists per category. Site visits by contest judges will determine the winners.
Your photo(s) and completed nomination form must be received at our Boston offices by July 11, 2014 at 11:59PM to be eligible for competition.
Entries without photographs will not be accepted.
Online Entry Form – http://www.cityofboston.gov/parks/gardencontest/gardencontest.aspx
Complete the form online and upload up to 5 digital photos of your garden.
For More Information call 617-635-4505 or email GardenContest@cityofboston.gov. Pictured below, last year’s first place senior garden in Roslindale.
Beginning July 1, 2014, the Back Bay will have residential trash and recycling collected on both Mondays and Thursdays. Please note the added recycling day.
Residents are urged to place trash out on the morning of pick-up. This will significantly reduce the opportunity for spillage and scavenging. Properly and securely containing your trash and recycling is a critical component of keeping your neighborhood clean. Trash must be placed in a container with a lid or a sturdy trash bag.
The Back Bay has single-stream recycling and all eligible recycling materials can be co-mingled and placed out for curbside collection in a clear plastic bag. These are available at most retail supermarkets. Those with alley collection can utilize the clear plastic bags or the large 64 gallon carts (pictured below) for recycling. The City has formally discontinued distribution of the small, open recycling blue bins and residents are urged to use only the clear plastic bags for their recycling, instead of the small bins. Small plastic and paper bags from market/convenience stores are not acceptable for trash/recycling placement.
It is illegal to utilize City sidewalk litter barrels or solar-powered compactors for the disposal of residential or commercial trash and carries a fine of up to $1,000 per day.
Failure to comply with the above regulations will result in fines issued by the Code Enforcement Division. Offenses may be reported to the Mayor’s Hotline at 617-635-4500.
Comprehensive trash and recycling guidelines, including a listing of recyclables can be found at www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks.
On Saturday, May 31, from 10 – 5, you are invited to the Greenovate Boston Community Summit. The Summit will include world-class speakers, interactive workshops and trainings, and a Marketplace of Ideas to showcase local innovations, products and services. This day-long event will help gather input and ideas from the community for the 2014 Climate Action Plan Update, which is due for completion by the end of the year. Location to be determined. Free and open to the public. Presented by the City of Boston. For more information check www.summit.greenovateboston.org, or contact Leah Bamberger at leah.bamberger@boston.gov.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Ms. Lorri Higgins invite you to the 18th annual Rose Garden Party on Thursday, June 19, from 5:30 – 8:00 in the Kelleher Rose Garden in the Back Bay Fens. To purchase tickets, call 617-635-4032, or visit www.cityofboston.gov/parks/rosegarden/. The party will benefit free programs in Boston parks.
You may have heard that Bostonians of years past enthusiastically embarked on landmaking ventures, expanding the City’s coastlines to make way for development. But do you know that Charles Street lies on land that was once beyond the shoreline? The western expansion of Beacon Hill onto the tidal flats of the Charles River provided a foundation for residential and commercial expansion, and later for portions of the Esplanade and Storrow Drive. the Flat of the Hill now contains an eclectic array of buildings, early examples of adaptive reuse, and a vibrant commercial district. From tidal flat to historic district, the Flat of the Hill continues its evolution to the current day. On Thusday, May 22, from 5 0 6:30, join City of Boston Preservation Planner Erin Doherty to investigate the history of this transformation. Free and open to the public. Meeting place confirmed at time of reservation. Contact erin.doherty@boston.gov before May 19 to reserve a place (that’s tomorrow!) Image by www.bostonbyfoot.org.
Due to the overwhelming interest in planting trees in Boston, Grow Boston Greener is giving away 100 FREE trees on Saturday, October 26! The Free Tree Giveaway is aimed at broadening community level tree planting efforts by giving away free trees to Boston residents, non-profits and community groups. We have formally launched the Tree Giveaway on growbostongreener.org.
The Grow Boston Greener Tree Giveaway is made possible through the Boston Urban Forest Program, a partnership effort by the Boston Natural Areas Network, the City of Boston’s Park Department, Office of the Mayor’s Sustainability Initiative Greenovate Boston, and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Available trees include fruit, flowering, shade, or conifer trees. Trees will be in 5 gallon pots, 6′ in height, and weigh about 50 pounds each. The trees must be planted in the City of Boston. Pick up time and location, one day only, Saturday, October 26 from 10 – 2 at City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive in Mattapan. On that day also, two half hour training sessions will be offered at 11 and 1, on how to properly plant and care for your trees. You must agree to water and maintain the trees for two years following the planting date, to help ensure the tree establishes itself and survives. The trees must be planted before November 30, 2013.
The application form may be found at www.growbostongreener.org/gbg, and you may email the completed form to linda@bostonnatural.org, or mail to Grow Boston Greener, Attn: Linda Ciesielski, Boston Natural Areas Network, 62 Summer Street, 2nd floor, Boston, MA 02110. Image from www.upwithtrees.org.
The City of Boston announces a public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 18, from 6 – 8 at the Firehouse at 127 Mount Vernon Street, relative to a conceptual plan for a cycle track and intersection improvements around the Public Garden on Arlington Street, Beacon Street, Charles Street, and Boylston Street. The concept plan envisions a two-way cycle track along the streets around the Public Garden including intersection improvements. Cycle tracks are sections of road designated for exclusive use by cyclists, physically protected from motor vehicle traffic. The cycle tracks will be at street grade, separate from the sidewalk, and marked with paint or thermoplastic. Parked cars and/or flexible bollards will separate cyclists from the moving vehicles.
Why install cycle tracks? The proposed two-way track is a key component of the City’s Bike Network Plan, which seeks to provide safe, protected routes through the City, encouraging all residents to bicycle, from children to senior citizens. The proposed track would provide a path-like facility connecting the Charles River path to existing and proposed on-street facilities ini the network. The existing one-way street pattern requires bicyclists to ride significantly out of their way, against traffic, or on the sidewalk, to make important connections. Cycle tracks in other cities have been shown to increase ridership, decrease sidewalk riding, decrease crashes, and reduce speeds. Parking and traffic modifications will be discussed at this meeting. Hopefully, police enforcement of bicycle riding traffic violators will also be discussed.
For more information contact Nicole Freedman, City of Boston, at 617-918-4456, or email her at Nicole.freedman@cityofboston.gov.
