Boston Flora

Tag: Mayor Menino

  • Introducing Christopher Cook, Commissioner of Parks & Recreation

    Introducing Christopher Cook, Commissioner of Parks & Recreation

    Christopher Cook, 37, is Boston’s new Commissioner of Parks & Recreation.  A native of Plymouth, he now lives in West Roxbury, and will be in charge of more than 200 City parks and playgrounds.  Although he is new to the field of parks administration, he can count on the support of the multitude of not for profit Friends groups and park advocates throughout the City.  He studied at Suffolk University and previously served as Arts Commissioner under former Mayor Menino.  Lawrence Harmon of The Boston Globe wrote an interesting article about the new Commissioner which may be found at http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/09/13/cook-good-choice-for-parks-head/2NN0K3Ki7Ru6texgrZAxzI/story.html

    We look forward to meeting Chris Cook in the coming months.  Our hands-on work with the trees of the Back Bay demands a close working relationship with the Parks Department, and our public-private partnership with the City is of paramount importance. Both previous Parks Commissioners, Justine Liff and Antonia Pollak, created a positive cooperative environment for our organization, and we anticipate that spirit of friendship and shared goals will continue under the new administration.

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  • Sunday, October 27, 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm – Fall Pumpkin Fest

    Mayor Thomas M. Menino presents the Fall Pumpkin Fest on the Boston Common Frog Pond on Sunday, October 27th from 4:30 – 6:30 pm.  Bring an 8 inch or smaller carved pumpkin to the Frog Pond to float and help set the Pond aglow at twilight.  Interact with spooky ParkSCIENCE experiments from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Bio+Art Collaboration, and Boston Best Bees Company.  Wear your Halloween costume and participate in the Halloween Parade led by Frog Pond Freddie.  Watch Rosalita’s Ghoulish Puppet Show, a dazzling magic show by Kayla Drescher Magic, and a fun bubble show by “Bubble Man” Jim Dichter.  Try scarily delicious treats, refreshments and games from National Dairy Council’s Fuel Up to Play, Archway Cookies, New England Coffee, Magic 106.7 and more.  Bring donations of canned goods for CANshare, Mayor Menino’s annual food drive for those in need.  ParkSCIENCE is funded in part by a Green Parks Green Kids grant through a partnership between the National Recreation and Park Association and the National Recreation Foundation.  Free.

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  • Friday, July 12, 5:00 pm – Deadline for Application: Mayor Menino’s 2013 Garden Contest

    Amateur gardeners who are Boston residents, operate a Boston business, or who design and maintain an organization garden, join the citywide celebration of urban gardening with Mayor Menino’s 2013 Garden Contest, generously sponsored by Comcast.  The Grand Prize is provided by jetBlue.  Photographs or images submitted to the Boston Parks & Recreation Department become City of Boston property and may be used for press or marketing purposes.  The Department has the right to choose the appropriate garden category for entrants, if one has not been chosen, or if management believes the garden should be placed in a different category.  Gardeners may only win one category.

    Categories are: Porch, Balcony, Deck, or Window Box Garden; Shade Garden; Small Yard Garden (250 square feet or less); Medium Yard Garden (250 to 500 square feet); Large Yard Garden (larger than 500 square feet); Community Garden; Vegetable or Herb Garden; Senior Garden Category (65+); and Storefront, Organization, or Main Street District Garden.  The judging criteria are general appeal, use of color, neatness, variety, quality, sustainability, and art.  Participants who have won three or more times in the last ten years will automatically be entered in the second annual Mayor’s Garden Contest Hall of Fame.  These distinguished garden hall-of-famers are able to participate as an honorary judge during the 2013 contest, but will not be eligible to participate as a contestant.  The winner of the grand prize will be awarded roundtrip flights for four to any nonstop destination from Boston.  Terms, conditions, and blackout dates apply.  Applications with photos may be mailed to Mayor Menino’s Garden Contest, Boston Parks & Recreation Department, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, 3rd floor, Boston, MA 02118, or apply online at www.cityofboston.gov/parks/gardencontest. Thank you, boston.com, for the image of a past winner’s garden, below:

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  • City of Boston Open Space Plan 2015 – 2021 Questionnaire

    The City of Boston is preparing a new citywide Open Space Plan for the years 2015 to 2021. As part of this effort, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department has developed a questionnaire to enable the public to provide valuable input about their park use and preferences.

    Mayor Thomas M. Menino understands the importance that Boston’s citizens place on open space and parks and the need for balanced development. With that in mind, the Parks Department is developing a multi-year integrated plan for open space protection and development.

    The Open Space Plan will look at all public open space, regardless of ownership, including parks, playgrounds, squares, malls, urban wilds, community gardens, cemeteries, greenways, trails, thoroughfares, and harbor islands. The Plan will also look at city residents to understand demographic and socio-economic trends which impact the use of open space.

    As part of the data collection process, an environmental inventory is compiled enabling natural areas to be targeted for protection and stewardship in a priority plan. Natural features of our parks, rivers and harbors, wildlife, geologic features, soils, and vegetation become part of this truly comprehensive Open Space Plan.

    Public participation is crucial to the success of the Plan and the key ingredient to helping us make our parks and open spaces better. The Department is reaching out to users of the parks, playgrounds, and other open spaces in the city, both residents and visitors, to learn about how they use open space in Boston and how their experience can be improved.

    PLEASE FILL OUT THE QUESTIONNAIRE ONLINE!! IT’S EASY AND QUICK. You will find links to the questionnaire in English, Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, Cape Verdean Creole, and Portuguese available at http://www.cityofboston.gov/parks/about/questionnaire.asp.

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  • Saturday, May 12, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Mayor Menino’s Tomato Give-Away

    Come to Mayor Menino’s Tomato Give-Away this Saturday, May 12, from 10 – noon in the Back Bay Fens, on the corner of Boylston Street and Park Drive. Collect free tomato plants courtesy of Mahoney’s Garden Centers, plus an appearance from Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill, gardening workshops and tour of the Fenway Victory Gardens, jazz performance from Berklee College of Music, demonstration from Nancy Mangion of the Bee Keeper Warehouse, MassArt’s Artward Bound art and craft activities, face painting, supplies from Boston Public Health Commission, and more. Call 617-635-4505, or visit www.cityofboston.gov/parks.

  • Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28, 8:30 am – 2:00 pm – Boston Shines and Alley Rally

    Join Mayor Thomas M. Menino for Boston Shines 2012, the 10th annual citywide neighborhood cleanup, on Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28 from 8:30 am – 2:00 pm.  To volunteer, or for more information, contact the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services at 617-635-3485.  For information after working hours, call 617-635-4500, or visit www.cityofboston.gov to register online.

    In Back Bay specifically, The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay sponsors Alley Rally 2012. Spring is definitely here, and Alley Rally 2012 will sweep through the neighborhood on Saturday, April 28, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. through noon. Coordinating with Mayor Menino’s Citywide Cleanup, come and join your neighbors, including groups from local fraternities and some of our Back Bay schools, in sweeping the alleys and side streets. Thanks to donations from our local businesses, we provide coffee, juice and doughnuts at the Clarendon Street Playground starting at 8:30 a.m. At 9:00 a.m., we will divide in groups and head off to clean. After we finish, there will be a picnic lunch (also donated by Back Bay businesses) for the volunteers at the playground. This is a great way to get to know your neighbors and spruce up the neighborhood at the same time. NABB has been conducting the Alley Rally since 1967! For further information, please contact Ellen Rooney at parnell3@verizon.net.

  • Tuesday, March 13 – Margaret Pokorny to Receive Park Partners Award

    Tuesday, March 13 – Margaret Pokorny to Receive Park Partners Award

    Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department will present the first annual Park Partners Award to Margaret Pokorny of the Back Bay during the Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party at the Seaport World Trade Center on Tuesday, March 13. The Park Partners Award recognizes Boston citizens who make a significant contribution to beautification and the city’s parks.

    A longtime advocate for protecting the natural resources in her neighborhood, Margaret Pokorny has worked closely with residents and city officials to beautify Commonwealth Avenue Mall since she first moved to Back Bay in 1980. She was instrumental in efforts to revive the turf along the Mall, supported the creation of the Women’s Memorial, and has been active in fundraising and caring for trees along the Commonwealth Avenue.

    “Margaret has gone above and beyond in order to preserve the quality of life in the neighborhood by advocating for policies which protect trees and encourage use of Commonwealth Avenue Mall by residents and visitors,” Mayor Menino said. “She is vigilant about engaging her neighbors to help water, replace, and protect trees, especially the Dutch elm population. She is always gracious, honest, and direct. The city is lucky to have such an advocate for our green space.”

    A hands-on booster for Boston’s parks, Pokorny’s personal slogan is “Born to Prune.” Her in-depth knowledge of her neighborhood parks was evident in her final thesis in the Radcliffe Seminars program in Landscape Design in 1992: a history and master plan for Commonwealth Avenue Mall. She was mentored in the project by her friend and neighbor, the late Stella Trafford, known as the Grande Dame of Boston parks for her own involvement with Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the Public Garden, and Boston Common.

    Pokorny worked with Trafford on issues related to the Mall, and became an active member of the Board of the Friends of Copley Square, the Friends of the Public Garden, and the Board of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. She also served as Co-President of the Garden Club of the Back Bay and joined the Board of The Esplanade Association when it was founded in 2000. Margaret has also received the Boston Bowl from the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America.

    Tickets are still available for the March 13 Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party taking place from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the eve of the 2012 Boston Flower & Garden Show which opens to the public on March 14. In addition to the award presentation, Dr. Gustavo Romero will speak about the Glass Flowers Collection at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and gardening expert Patti “Garden Girl” Moreno will give a talk on Urban Sustainable Living and the five things everyone can do to live more sustainably in the city.

    For more information or to purchase tickets, please call the Parks Department at (617) 635-4032 or visit www.cityofboston.gov/parks/ttd/flowershow.asp.

  • Tuesday, March 13, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party

    The 2012 Boston Flower & Garden Show will kick off with an elegant fundraising Preview Party at The Seaport World Trade Center chaired by Fox 25′s Maria Stephanos and hosted by Mayor and Mrs. Thomas Menino. Proceeds from the Preview Party will help restore Boston Parks Department’s Greenhouses, where plants are propagated for the Public Garden, Boston Common, and dozens of neighborhood parks. Special guests, entertainment, delightful food and beverage and a silent auction make this an exclusive and enjoyable opportunity to view the show’s gardens and exhibits before the show opens to the general public the following day. Tickets are $100 each before February 14, $125 per person thereafter.  You may also purchase a $500 Friend ticket, and your company name or patron name will be displayed in the program.  Ticket includes admission to the private party, exclusive viewing of the Flower Show’s gardens and the chance to meet the designers, open bar, complimentary hor d’oeuvres reception, live music, and one ticket to return to the Flower Show later in the week.  You may download a ticket order form by visiting www.bostonflowershow.com/preview-party/.  Pictured below is the original Olmsted greenhouse in Franklin Park.

  • Tuesday, November 29, 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Copley Square Holiday Tree Lighting Festivities

    The Friends of Copley Square and Mayor Thomas M. Menino invite you and your family to attend the annual Copley Square Holiday Tree Lighting Festivities on Tuesday, November 29, from 3:00 – 6:00 pm, with WHDH’s Janet Wu.  At 3:00, there will be a Story Hour and Candy Cane Tea at the Boston Public Library, sponsored by the BPL and by Catered Affair (rsvp by November 25 at 617-859-2282), and be sure to bring your little ones for a Parade of Festively Decorated Carriages.  The actual tree lighting will take place at 5:00,with lights courtesy of Normandy RE Partners and Boston Properties,  and there will be a post lighting reception at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.  Bring a can and support Boston Can Share. For more information, visit www.friendsofcopleysquare.org, or email friends of copleysquare@gmail.com.

  • Monday, November 7, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Friends of the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit Party

    Please join The Honorable Thomas M. Menino and the Friends of the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit on Monday, November 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 for cocktails and light fare to honor Henry Lee and Betsy Shure Gross for establishing and founding the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit.  The event will take place at Parkman House, 33 Beacon Street in Boston, and space is limited.  $500 per ticket.  Make checks payable to the Justine Mee Liff Fund for Friends of the Boston Park Rangers, and mail to Emerald Necklace Conservancy, 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115.  RSVP by telephone to Ashley Helie at 617-522-2700, or email ahelie@emeraldnecklace.org by October 24, if possible.