Boston Flora

Tag: Menino

  • 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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  • Saturday, April 27, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Alley Rally

    Spring is definitely here, and the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay Alley Rally 2013 will sweep through the neighborhood on Saturday, April 27, from 9 – 12.  Coordinating with Mayor Menino’s Citywide Cleanup, come 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, NABB provides coffee, juice, and doughnuts at the Clarendon Street Playground starting at 8:30 am.  At 9, you will divide in groups and head off to clean.  After you finish, there will be a picnic lunch (also donated by Back Bay businesses) for volunteers back at the Playground.  This is a great way to know your neighbors and spruce up the neighborhood at the same time.  NABB has been conducting Alley Rally since 1967!  For further information, please contact Ellen Rooney at parnell3@verizon.net.  Garden Club of the Back Bay member Janet Younker is pictured at right, below:

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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.

  • 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.

  • Volunteers Needed to Plant Daffodils October 22 or October 29

    Mayor Thomas M. Menino has announced that 40,000 daffodil bulbs will be planted in late October (October 22 or 29) along Boston’s public ways, including sidewalks, medians and paths.  The Boston Parks and Recreation Department is seeking volunteers to assist with the plantings and suggestions for locations to be beautified.  Sign up today by filling out a form to support the daffodil planting program at www.cityofboston.gov/parks/daffodil_signup.aspx.  Take photos of your group planting.  Photos may be viewed on Facebook and will be submitted to local newspapers.  Email parks@cityofboston.gov if you need more information or have any questions.

  • Saturday, August 6, 10:30 am – Nightingale Community Garden Grand Opening

    As the interest in community gardens continues to grow rapidly nationwide and around the Boston area, Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN) will celebrate the grand opening of Nightingale Community Garden — the largest community garden to open in Dorchester — on Saturday, August 6, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon at 512 Park Street in Dorchester. Mayor Thomas M. Menino will join gardeners, neighbors, partners, and supporters to celebrate the first planting season of this remarkable new 1.5-acre garden in the heart of the city’s largest neighborhood. All are invited to come learn more about this new community treasure and enjoy music and refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.

    Once the site of the former Boston Public Florence Nightingale School, and long gardened by a small group of local residents, Nightingale Garden was acquired by BNAN in 2006 as a permanent community garden. BNAN is a Boston-based nonprofit that works to preserve, expand, and enhance urban open space, including community gardens, greenways, and urban wilds throughout the City of Boston. After years of advocacy efforts and a thorough community planning and design process, renovations to Nightingale Garden began in earnest in late 2010 and were completed in June.

    BNAN has significantly expanded Nightingale Community Garden from 30 to 132 plots and raised beds under cultivation by more than 150 resident gardeners who represent a wide array of cultures and generations. The new garden features healthy, nutrient-rich soil, fully accessible paths, a complete irrigation system, benches and picnic tables, a tool shed, bulletin board, and a common gathering area with gazebo sun shelter that also captures rain water in barrels. The gardeners began planting on July 1, and even with the late start due to construction constraints, Nightingale Garden is already demonstrating its bountiful potential. Blueberry bushes were saved from the old garden and fruit trees will be planted in the fall. Nightingale is quickly becoming the hub of community gardening and urban agriculture in Dorchester, hosting programs focused on cultivating fresh healthy food, including gardening, cooking, and fitness workshops, as well as concerts throughout the summer. All programs and events are free and open to all gardeners and the public to enjoy.

    “Nightingale Garden is a real community success story,” says Valerie Burns, president of Boston Natural Areas Network. “The project represents years of steadfast efforts by residents, the city, BNAN, and many donors and partners to create a permanent garden where the community can gather and grow healthy food for years to come.”

    This garden renovation is part of a Dorchester-wide program called Boston Is Growing Gardens (BIGG), which BNAN founded in 2009 for the purpose of doubling the growing capacity of community gardens in the neighborhood and promoting the health and wellness of its residents. The BIGG program combines improved and expanded gardens with no-cost programs to build interest, participation and skill in growing fresh vegetables and inspire healthier eating and more active lifestyles. Through coordinated outreach and skill-building and mentoring programs, BIGG works to connect Dorchester residents to these new gardening programs and resources.

    “The opening of the Nightingale Community Garden in Dorchester signifies a big step forward in community-building, neighborhood renewal and preservation for the City of Boston,” Mayor Menino said. “Community gardens add many dimensions to our open urban space as they provide a viable source of inexpensive and healthy food and also promote regular physical activity and a rewarding personal experience.”

    Major funders for the project include the Boston Public Health Commission through its Community Putting Prevention to Work program, Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development Grassroots program, the Manton Foundation, the Claneil Foundation, the Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund, the Towards Sustainability Foundation, the American Heart Association, the Cabot Trust, and the Boston Foundation. Boston University School of Public Health provided in-kind services to insure healthy soil.

    If you would like to learn more about BIGG or how to get involved in community gardening in your Dorchester neighborhood, please contact BNAN at info@bostonnatural.org or call the BIGG Project Manager, Grantley Payne, at 617.542.7696 x21.

  • Tuesday, November 30, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Copley Square Holiday Tree Lighting

    Mayor Thomas M. Menino, The Boston Parks & Recreation Department, and The Friends of Copley Square will host the annual Copley Square Holiday Tree Lighting on Tuesday, November 30, from 5 – 6 pm.  The festive event will feature live entertainment, including The United States Air Force Brass Band Quintet, Trinity Church Choristers and Schola, Brian Jones and the Copley Singers, and holiday caroling.  The Old South Church bells will toll when the lights are turned on.  Santa will pay a special visit, and immediately following the tree lighting, The Copley Plaza will host a family reception for all in attendance.  The Garden Club of the Back Bay is pleased to announce its contribution of handmade bows to decorate the ArtsBoston kiosk.  Our volunteers will be in the Square decking the halls  November 26, if you’d like to stop by and say hello.  Visit www.friendsofcopleysquare.org to learn more about Copley Square.

  • Monday, May 3, 5:00 pm – The Friends of the Public Garden 40th Anniversary Annual Meeting

    The Friends of the Public Garden cordially invites you to its 40th Anniversary Annual Meeting on Monday, May 3, beginning at 5:00 pm at First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough Street.  The featured speaker will be The Honorable Thomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston.  Celebrate with The Friends as His Honor declares May 3 Friends of the Public Garden Day in Boston.  RSVP by April 28 to 617-267-7366, or email friends@harronandassociates.com.  Painting below by T.A. Charron, from Copley Society’s Fresh Paint 2006.

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