Boston Flora

Tag: Esplanade Association

  • Esplanade Association Update

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay provided two grants to The Esplanade Association in 2010 in support of its work with trees – updating the tree inventory and replacing storm damaged trees.  We have received a note from Executive Director Sylvia Salas at The Esplanade Association which we’d like to share with our readers:

    “1. Tree inventory: We have been working with Joyce Husseni from Nitsch Engineering and David Rines on this project. David has assessed the condition of every tree on the Esplanade and has input this data into an Excel spreadsheet for Joyce to import into a database. David also has re-plotted tree locations on the maps, as needed. The assessment and data update include approximately 90 new trees, including the Yoshino cherries. The updated inventory will prove very useful to DCR as well as TEA in identifying and prioritizing tree work. We hope next to re-tag the trees.

    2. Replacement trees and tree care: The process of planting, even pruning, trees on the Esplanade is somewhat complicated because of oversight requirements by the Massachusetts Historic Commission and Boston Landmarks Commission, but we have managed to work through all of the DCR requirements to move forward with tree work. We are planting 10 willows at Otis Grove this spring and we intend to plant trees, as well as shrubs, ground cover and other plants at Eliot Plaza. The Eliot Plaza project is a significant one, encompassing a redesign of the plaza’s current landscape to convert it into the classic room within the park as intended by Arthur Shurcliff. We also have managed to get nearly 200 trees pruned around the Hatch Shell and are working with DCR to have as many as 300 trees pruned in the Otis Grove, Esplanade Café and Sherborn exercise areas this spring.

    Please express our gratitude to the members of the garden club for their support of The Esplanade Association’s ongoing work to improve the health and care of the Esplanade.”

  • 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.

  • Saturday, November 6, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm – Second Annual Esplanade Fall Clean-Up

    The Esplanade Association invites you to join them for the Second Annual Fall Clean-Up on Saturday, November 6th from 10 AM-3 PM, to help beautify the park and ready it for its annual winter coat of snow.

    Volunteers are needed to help with leaf raking and general clean-up. To make sure that everyone’s in the fall spirit, we will provide apples and cider. Gloves and rakes will be provided, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own gear as well. All ages are welcome!

    They are also in need of volunteer leaders for Fall Clean-Up Day to staff 4 check-in stations at the park (2 leaders each): Lee Pool, Hatch Shell, Dartmouth Street, and the Exercise Course. Volunteer leaders will help with check-in, handing out cider, apples, and tools, and any other emergencies that may come up. Leaders are asked to be at their stations from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM.

    For more information and to RSVP, please contact Jessica Blohm, Park Project and Volunteer Coordinator at 617.227.0365 or jblohm@esplanadeassociation.org.

  • Saturday, September 25, 6:30 pm – Esplanade Centennial Gala

    Join honorary chairs The Honorable Governor Deval L. Patrick and First Lady Diane B. Patrick, and The Honorable mayor Thomas M. Menino and First Lady of Boston Angela F. Menino, and The Esplanade Association on the banks of the Charles River to celebrate the Esplanade’s 100th year of nature, culture and recreation.  A spectacular evening on the Esplanade will support the vital programs and projects of The Esplanade Association, including Children in the Park, Kids Fishing Club, Dancing Under the Stars, Yoga on the Esplanade, Four Season Walking Tours, Esplanade 2020, Community Boating Dock Replacement, Tree Care and Turf Improvement, Park Amenities, Historic Granite Landings Restoration, Esplanade Collection (Tree Adoption, Bench Sponsorship and Flower Planting).

    The Arthur Fiedler Achievement Award will honor Maestro Keith Lockhart, Conductor of the famed Boston Pops. Sponsorship opportunities ranging from $25,000 – $3,000 are available, and individual tickets are $750.  For more information, please contact June Mattioli at 617-227-0365, or email jmattioli@esplanadeassociation.org.

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  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Donates $2,500 to Esplanade Emergency Tree Fund

    As most of you are aware, more than 50 of the Esplanade’s specimen trees were damaged or destroyed as a result of a violent storm that passed through Boston on June 6.  Willows, the iconic trees of the Esplanade, were particularly hard hit when they were uprooted and damaged beyond repair by what has been identified as a macroburst (although weather groupies say the more proper term is “microburst”).  Our Club Co-President Jackie Blombach says her dog Lily’s favorite apple tree is gone as well.  In response to the extensive damage sustained by the storm, The Esplanade Association’s Board of Directors has created the Esplanade Emergency Tree Fund to raise money to replace trees that have been destroyed.  The Garden Club of the Back Bay has sent $2,500 to this Fund, and we thank all who attended or supported our most recent fund raising event, The Twilight Garden Party, and all our loyal wreath buyers, without whom our ability to step forward in such emergencies would be impossible.

    The destruction of so many historic and stately trees is a terrible loss to the park and to all who enjoy this special green space.  The Department of Conservation and Recreation has reported more than 50 trees will either need to be removed or severely pruned.  The DCR commenced a tree clean-up operation immediately after the storm to assure that public safety concerns were fully addressed.  The Esplanade Association will work with the DCR to inventory the trees and assess the full damage to the park at the earliest possible time.  That inventory is funded in part through grants from The Garden Club of the Back Bay.

    You may contribute to this fund – donations of all sizes are urgently needed and will be tax-deductible – by logging on to www.esplanadeassociation.org, or by contacting Justin Burke at 617-227-0365, or by emailing him at jburke@esplanadeassociation.org.  If you are a GCBB member, please let him know.

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  • Tuesday, May 25, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Celebrating the Esplanade’s 100 Years of Nature, Culture and Recreation

    You are cordially invited to attend The Esplanade Association’s Ninth Annual Meeting Tuesday, May 25 at The Hampshire House, 84 Beacon Street in Boston.  The theme of this year’s meeting is “Celebrating the Esplanade’s 100 Years of Nature, Culture and Recreation,” with Keynote Presentation by Tupper Thomas, Administrator of Prospect Park and President of the Prospect Park Alliance, Brooklyn, New York. For those of you who missed Ms. Thomas’s speech at the Boston Committee’s Spring meeting in April, here is another chance to hear a truly inspirational, forward thinking, and down to earth practical leader in her field talk about the challenges faced by parks throughout urban areas.  The General Meeting begins at 5:30, and a Member Reception follows at 6:30.  RSVP to Justin Burke by May 20 at 617-227-0365, or email jburke@esplanadeassociation.org.

    The business to be conducted at the meeting includes consideration and voting on amendments to the bylaws of the Association to change the position and title of Board President to Board Chair.

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  • Tuesday, May 11, 6:00 – 8:30 pm – The 100 Party

    Celebrate the Esplanade’s 100th Birthday!  Enjoy a night of food and drinks with Esplanade Friends and help support the work of The Esplanade Association.  Take home a TEA Tote Bag filled with giveaways and blow out 100 candles on the Esplanade’s birthday cake.  The 100 Party will take place Tuesday, May 11, from 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm at 28 Degrees, One Appleton Street, Boston (pictured below).  Tickets are $100 (you will become a Friends member), and you may purchase tickets on line at www.esplanadeassociation.org or by sending a check payable to The Esplanade Association: 100 Friends to 10 Derne Street, Boston, MA 02114.  For more information or questions, please contact Justin Burke at jburke@esplanadeassociation.org, or call him at 617-227-0365, x 110.

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  • Wednesday, March 10, 6:00 – 8:00 pm – Findings and Directions: An Esplanade 2020 Community Input Session

    On March 10, 2010, The Esplanade Association and the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) invite you join us at 6pm at the Boston Public Library, McKim Lower Level Conference Room B,  for Findings and Directions, the second of four Esplanade 2020 community meetings.

    The Charles River Esplanade is a park for people, and though it is loved by many, it has the potential to be much more. An initiative of The Esplanade Association, in collaboration with DCR, the Esplanade 2020 project is bringing together community members, public officials, and design professionals to craft a shared vision for the future of the Esplanade. The March 10 Findings and Directions meeting provides the public with an opportunity to review and assess a proposed, increasingly refined direction for Esplanade 2020. Since commencing the visioning project, and based on public comments made at the first community input session in January, the Esplanade 2020 Design Committee has created a framework of principles to guide our shared vision. Moreover, the Design Committee has begun to explore possible solutions to park issues and areas of concern voiced by community members. Findings and Directions will allow the public to evaluate these proposed guidelines and alternatives, and will help The Esplanade Association and DCR steer the vision of Esplanade 2020 in a direction embraced by the community.

    Findings and Directions will be moderated by The Esplanade Association, and will include substantial time for public input. A more detailed agenda will be distributed ahead of the meeting. The Esplanade 2020 project is gathering members of the community and asking them to dream big. Broad public participation in the project is invaluable as we work together to realize the full potential of the Charles River Esplanade, and we hope that you will join us. For more information about Esplanade 2020, or to RSVP, please visit www.esplanadeassociation.org or contact Chris Murton at 617.227.0365 or cmurton@esplanadeassociation.org.

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