Join the Young Friends of the Public Garden for a private skating night at the Frog Pond on Boston Common. The event will take place Monday, February 25, from 7:30 – 9. Your $35 ticket includes skate rental and treats at the rink! Space is limited so get your tickets soon! Chances are you won’t be doing what the skaters below are doing (picture from www.glennsglobalgames.com,) but you never know. To buy tickets: http://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/about-the-friends/young-friends/events/.
The Friends of the Public Garden invites you to a Members Reception Wednesday, October 10, at 6 pm, at the Union Club, 8 Park Street in Boston. This is a time to socialize and to hear David Dearinger, member of the Friends Sculpture Committee, talk about the unlikely transience of large public sculptures in Boston, including some of the ones that do (or did) grace Boston’s Public Garden and Commonwealth Avenue Mall. David is the Susan Morse Hilles Curator of Paintings & Sculpture at the Boston Athenaeum, and a specialist in nineteenth-century American sculpture. The event is free but please rsvp as space is limited. Email no later than Friday, October 5 at info@friendsofthepublicgarden.org. Call 617-723-8144 for information. Your membership can be renewed at this event. Motor Mart Garage is the reception sponsor – thank you.
The Asian Longhorned Beetle has often been the source behind many tree-related woes. During the spring of 2011, The Friends of the Public Garden conducted a search with the Boston University Global Day of Service FOPG team to look for the beetle throughout parts of Boston, specifically the Common and the Public Garden.
On August 7, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s lead ALB Forester Julie Coop will be hosting a free workshop on the beetle at the Franklin Park Golf Course Clubhouse in Dorchester. It will run from 6:30-8:00 P.M. and will teach people how to identify the Asian Longhorned Beetle and prevent it from spreading in Boston.
The Asian Longhorned Beetle is a terribly invasive insect that destroys trees. The beetle has been found throughout Massachusetts and could threaten trees within the city if it is not identified properly and quickly. We hope you will be able to participate in this informative workshop with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation so we can protect our trees!
The Boston Urban Forest Council presents a Summer Tree Stroll on Wednesday, July 11, from 6:30 – 8. Meet at the Brewer Fountain on the Boston Common (behind the Park Street T-Station.) Summer evenings are the perfect time to notice the shapes of trees. Come and learn to distinguish between the upright ginkgo, the spreading oak, and the vase shaped elm. You will also learn to identify leaves and find historic trees as you walk the Common and the Public Garden, enjoying the beauty of a summer evening. Sponsored by Boston Natural Areas Network in partnership with the Friends of the Public Garden and the Boston Parks & Recreation department. Please register for this free event by calling 617-542-7696, or emailing info@bostonnatural.org. Photo from www.joenesgarden.com.
Governor Deval Patrick, Mayor Thomas Menino and Japan Airlines Chairman Emeritus Kazuo Inamori will join Consul General of Japan in Boston Takeshi Hikihara for a ceremonial planting of Japanese flowering cherry trees in Boston’s Public Garden on Wednesday, April 18 at 3:00pm near the corner of Beacon and Charles Streets.
The planting ceremony is part of the Greater Boston-Japan Cherry Blossom Festival which marks the 100th anniversary of the gift of Japanese flowering cherry trees from Japan to the United States. The original trees, which were planted in Washington D.C., have become a symbol of the close relations between the two countries. One of the cherry trees to be planted in the Public Garden is a graft produced from those in Washington’s Tidal Basin.
At the April 18 ceremony guests will hear remarks from Governor Patrick, Mayor Menino, Chairman Emeritus Inamori and Consul General Hikihara. Women of the World, a rising international vocal ensemble made up of Berklee graduates, and Japanese koto player, Ms. Yuki Yasuda, will add enjoyable cultural color to the occasion.
For further information on the Greater Boston-Japan Cherry Blossom Festival 2012, which includes a gagaku (Japanese Imperial Court music) concert; Haru Matsuri, a Japanese-style festival in Copley Square as well as other performances, lectures and exhibits, visit:
Consulate General of Japan in Boston: www.boston.us.emb-japan.go.jp/
Japan Society of Boston: www.japansocietyboston.org/sakura/eng
For national information, see:
Embassy of Japan in Washington DC: www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/sakura100
For questions regarding this event, contact: Susan Gill s.gill@cgjbos.org or 617 973-9772
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.
Join Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Province of Nova Scotia, WCVB-TV Channel 5, and MAGIC 106.7 FM for the lighting of Boston Common, the Public Garden, and the City of Boston’s Official Christmas Tree. Acts to be announced, check at www.cityofboston.gov/parks for updates.
The Friends of the Public Garden is working to put together a snap shot of how people utilize the Public Garden, Boston Common and Commonwealth Avenue Mall for their pets. The Friends is asking dog owners to participate in the discussion by taking a brief survey regarding their use of the parks. Questions are designed to gauge how often dogs use each space and which spaces are used most often. Friends is also interested in hearing what dog owners have to say about an off-leash pilot program. The survey is available online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/KKSQFJ9. For a printed copy, call the Friends at 617-723-8144. Provide your email address at the end of the survey to be entered into a drawing to win a $20 gift certificate for Fish & Bone- Urban Pet Essentials.
The Public Garden is annually the host to countless cultural events. This year beginning on May 21, the park is will be the setting of Susurrus: a play without actors and without a stage. The production is part radio play, part recital, part lesson in bird dissection, and part stroll in the park. Susurrus (pronounced sus-YOO-rus and referring to the rustling sound of wind in trees), is written and directed by David Leddy, a Scottish playwright known for his experimental works. In this installment of his, participants follow a map around the Public Garden as they listen to the piece on headphones; the different elements meld location and sound to create a theater experience in which there are no actors and only one member in the audience: you.
The dates of the production include: May 21, May 22, May 26, June 2, June 3, June 4, and June 5. Times will vary, with groups of four admitted every 15 minutes. The piece includes about a mile of walking on paved pathways. Headphone pickup will be on Boylston Steet between Charles and Tremont.
Tickets are on sale now at the Emerson College Arts Box Office located at 559 Washington Street. For more information, call (617) 824-8000 or e-mail tickets@artsemerson.org.
The Friends of the Public Garden, in partnership with The City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department, presents the 30th Annual Duckling Day Parade on Sunday, May 9, beginning at noon on Boston Common. Registration begins at 10:30 am, inside the Boston Common, across from the State House. Parade participation requires a $25 donation per family. This donation includes snacks, entertainment, and a toy for each child. Registration is available in advance on line using the “For Kids” tab at www.friendsofthepublicgarden.org. Based on the book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, children and their families will retrace the steps of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their family of eight ducklings. Led by the Harvard University Marching Band, children relive the adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard dressed as one of their favorite characters from the book, or echoing its themes. The Friends of the Public Garden is a non-profit organization dedicated to the care and protection of the Boston Common, the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. For additional information call 617-723-8144. Duckling Day happens rain or shine because ducks love water.
