Boston Flora

Tag: Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee

  • The Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2017 Grants

    At the Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay on May 8, the membership approved the following grants for fiscal year 2017. These grants, given to organizations whose mission closely tracks our own, are in addition to $20,000 allocated directly to neighborhood tree care.  We thank all our volunteers and supporters, who make the magic happen.  Image courtesy of www.tclf.org. The following list is in alphabetical order:

    Arnold Arboretum: $1,500 for the Campaign for the Living Collections, to collect and preserve plants of critical conservation value.

    Blossom Fund of the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America: $500

    Boston Nature Center/Mass Audubon: $4,000, to support scholarships for their summer camp.  Children range in age from 5 – 14 and are from local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain.

    Charles River Clean Up Boat: $2,000

    Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee: $5,000 for its tree care program, including Dutch elm disease monitoring and soil improvement.

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy: $2,500, to the Olmsted Tree Society for planting a pathway tree.

    Esplanade Association: $5,000, for the 2017 critical tree maintenance program, allocated to pruning.

    Friends of Copley Square: $1,500 for treating trees for root stress, and for fertilizer and fungicide.

    Friends of the Public Garden: $5,000 for tree care and preservation of the historic elms planted on Commonwealth Avenue in the block west of Massachusetts Avenue.

    Food Project: $2,000 for building raised bed gardens for Boston residents and community centers.

    Mothers Out Front: $1,000 for educating the public on the effects of gas leaks on trees in the urban landscape.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2016 Grants

    At the Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay held at the College Club on May 16, the membership voted to award the following grants to a group of worthy recipients whose projects fulfill our mission to protect, beautify and educate.  In addition, we again commit $20,000 for tree care in our neighborhood.

    Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee – $5,000 for its tree care program, Dutch elm disease monitoring, and soil improvement.

    Friends of the Public Garden – $5,000 for inoculation of certain mature  elm street trees not located on the Mall, planted beyond Massachusetts Avenue.

    The Esplanade Association – $4,000 allocated to tree pruning.

    Boston Nature Center/Mass Audubon – $3,500 to support scholarships for BNC’s summer camp program for children ages 5 – 14, from local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy – $2,500 to the Olmsted Tree Society for planting a pathway tree.

    The Food Project – $2,000 for its Build A Garden Program, building raised bed gardens for neighborhood residents and community centers in and around Dorchester.

    Charles River Clean Up Boat – $2,000 for continued operational expenses.

    Friends of Copley Square – $1,500 for treating trees for root stress, with fertilizer and fungicide.

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America, Inc. – $500 to the Blossom Fund in support of the 9.2 mile Fairmount Indigo Corridor Planting Project.

    Please click on to the links above, where available, to read more about these organizations and specifically the projects which we are helping to fund.  The Garden Club thanks all our supporters who, through donations and patronage of our fund raising efforts, allow us to share our money and expertise in a substantial way.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces 2015 Grants

    At the Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, held May 11 at The College Club of Boston, the membership voted to approve the following recommendations of the Executive Committee.  Co-Presidents Jackie Blombach and Jolinda Taylor were pleased to announce that, in addition to $20,000 to be spent directly by our Club for Back Bay tree care (primarily pruning and inoculation), other not-for-profit organizations will benefit from our fund raising efforts throughout the year, primarily our Twilight Garden Party and Holiday Wreath Sale.

    $5,000 to the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee for its tree care program, Dutch elm disease monitoring, and soil improvement.

    $5,000 to the Friends of the Public Garden for inoculation against Dutch elm disease for certain Belgium elm street trees not located on the Mall, planted beyond Massachusetts Avenue.

    $4,000 to The Esplanade Association for its tree care program and planning, including updating inventory and data manipulation.

    $3,000 to the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society to support scholarships for summer camp for children ages 5 – 14 from local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.

    $3,000 to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy for the planting of perennials in the Fenway.

    $2,000 to the Charles River Cleanup Boat for general operating expenses.

    $2,000 to the Trustees of Reservations/Boston Natural Areas Network in support of the MBTA Indigo Line/Fairmount Indigo Line Project, which will convert City-owned vacant lots along the rail corridor into parks and gardens.  This donation will help convert a vacant lot at Windermere Road in Uphams Corner.

    $1,500 to the Friends of Copley Square for treating trees with fertilizer and fungicide for root stress.

    $1,000 to the Blossom Fund of the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America in recognition of its 25th Anniversary.

    We thank all our contributors and patrons whose generosity allows us to make these grants.  We hope to see many of you at this year’s Twilight Garden Party on June 4.

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Announces Annual Grant Recipients

    Thanks in no small part to the continued success of our recent Twilight Garden Party, The Garden Club of the Back Bay announces that the following organizations will receive a total of $20,000 in financial grants for 2011:

    The Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee – $5,000 to be credited to the Hereford Street to Massachusetts Avenue  air spading project fund.

    The Friends of the Public Garden – $4,000 to continue the inoculation of elms at risk for contracting Dutch elm disease.

    The Esplanade Association – $2,500 for the Elliot Oval Landscape Restoration, planting new trees and treating trees already on site, near the newly restored Community Boating docks.

    Emerald Necklace Conservancy – $2,500 for a planned meadow to be developed with native species and wildflowers.

    Boston Nature Center/Massachusetts Audubon Society – $2,500 to support six full scholarships for its summer camp.  The children attending the camp range in age from 5 to 14 and are from the local neighborhoods of Mattapan, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain.

    Charles River Clean Up Boat – $2,000, to help continue the project of keeping the Charles River trash-free.

    Urban Ecology Institute – $1,000 to help with its Grow Boston Greener tree planting initiative.

    The Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America – $500 to the Blossom Fund, which is accumulating funds over a five year period to be awarded to a deserving project on or about the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

    For more information on all these important organizations and to learn more about the work they do, visit their website links above.  In addition to the above grants, The Garden Club of the Back Bay will spend an additional $20,000 on planting, pruning, and treating the street trees in our neighborhood over the coming year.  Thank you to all our volunteers and contributors for making our horticultural endeavors happen!

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreaths – “Green Spending”

    Why should you buy from us? Yes, we know you could order from local florists (at a significantly higher price, we might point out), or from the nurseries or groceries stores (at perhaps a slightly lower cost, with a corresponding drop in quality.) Purchasing our wreaths comes with the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting many wonderful local organizations, in addition to our own.

    Each year we make grants to not for profit groups which are making a difference in our lives. In addition to the Friends of the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee, we donate to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Charles River Clean Up Boat, the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Esplanade Association, COG, and to City Roots/The Urban Ecology Institute. This is by no means the complete list of beneficiaries (click on to our Projects page on the menu above for details) but we give approximately $20,000 annually to area groups accomplishing great works which we do not have the expertise or manpower to do ourselves. The dollar amount of these grants is dependent upon our earnings, so we urge you to be generous and allow us the opportunity to enhance your holiday environment with our fresh balsam wreaths.  We also directly pay for the planting, pruning, and inoculation of the street trees in our neighborhood – another $20,000 annual expenditure, give or take a thousand.  As Everett Dirkson used to say,  and I paraphrase, “A million here, a million there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”  Click HERE for an order form.

  • Commonwealth Avenue Mall Lights

    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.

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