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Vol. 2, No. 10
Tuesday, May 9, 2000
[Home]
There will be an important meeting of the Wellington Park Play Structure Committee on Wednesday evening, May 17, at 7 PM primarily to discuss the choice of play structure vendors. This meeting was originally to be held May 2 but was postponed. The meeting will be at the home of Lorraine and Scot Miller, 377 Waltham Street (yellow house, wrap around porch). Rear access is also available through the gate at the end of Princess Road.
To date, we have had three play structure vendors give us proposals in the same price range. Each of the vendors, Landscape Structures, Little Tikes, and GameTime, have given a presentation at one of our play structure meetings. Detailed accounts of these meetings are available in past issues of the Wellington Park News accessible on our website (http://wellingtonpark.8m.com). There appear to be advantages and disadvantages to each of the three possibilities. They all appear to be quality vendors who make quality equipment. There are differences in approach, paints, coatings, pole diameters, deck hole sizes, warranties, play panel selection, etc. Lorraine Miller, Play Chairperson, is in the process of gathering feedback on each of the vendor/structures that we have seen. She solicits your input so please send any of your thoughts or opinions to her via email (atrain@tiac.net), mail (377 Waltham St., West Newton, MA 02465), or phone (617-969-8651). We would like to have a chart of pluses and minuses for each of the proposals to discuss at the meeting. If you have seen enough information to make a comparison, please send her a rank ordering of the vendors so we can get a preliminary idea of preferences. All are welcome to attend.
The park was reseeded lat month (around 4/13) by the city's contractor, Phil Mastroiainni. The entire field was aerated by machine and then fertilized by spreader. Another machine called a slice seeder was used to spread grass seed over all the needed areas. Recent moisture and warm weather hopefully is allowing the seed to germinate. It has been encouraging to see sprouts in the bare areas which were given special attention recently. As it comes up, please try to avoid walking on the newly seeded bare areas. The park has a very green look to it lately. From the vantage point of Kilburn Road, it actually looks quite lush. Very recently, it received the first mowing of the season.
The park was reseeded last spring, but late in the season, and we did not receive much rain and it was for naught. Hopefully we will have better results this year. Special thanks to Bob Derubeis of the Parks and Recreation Department for arranging to have the seeding done. This represents a significant expense in the severely constrained budget of the Parks and Recreation Department. By the way, if you do care about parks, please let your elected officials know that you value them. When it comes to budget constraints, it is often the Parks and Recreation budget that gets cut first.
Thanks also to Ann Dorfman, who had soil samples from Wellington Park sent away to the UMass Experimental Station in Amherst for evaluation. She very recently received the results back which we hope to post shortly on our website. These have also been provided to the Parks Department for their reference. The main recommendation was to apply lime to correct the slightly acidic nature of the soil and apply additional fertilizer. The good news is that the lead level in the soil at Wellington Park is low.
The water fountain was turned on for the season last month as well. It has been much appreciated by park users. It should also be useful for watering our new shrubbery. The pressure was set a little higher than normal so that it could be used to put water in a container for watering purposes. It also serves to provide water at the base for our canine friends. Please do not disturb the rocks at the base of the fountain. They serve to prevent it from becoming too muddy there. Recently, we tried an experiment of putting a buried pot (with a small drainage hole) there under the rocks to contain water to make it easier for the dogs to drink. Unfortunately, someone pulled it out and discarded it. If we make another attempt at the experiment, please leave the pot in place.
The Newton Serves volunteer day occurred on Sunday, April 9, 2000. Wellington Park was one of over 50 projects to be done on that day. National Lumber (Newton Highlands) and Swartz Hardware (Nonantum) had very generously donated supplies for use at Wellington Park and other sites. Please support these local businesses. For our Newton Serves project we received: topsoil, composted manure, pine bark mulch, 8 spiraea bushes, daylilies, black Rustoleum paint (fences), paint brushes, buckets, stirrers, rollers, roller covers, trays, trash bags, yard waste bags, and drop cloths. We were to have 25 volunteers assigned to the Wellington Park site to do planting, glass cleanup, pruning, and fence painting. The bulk of the volunteers signed up for the Wellington Park project were from the Newton Community Education Community Service Class under the direction of Nancy Burkey.
Unfortunately, the weather did not seem to particularly cooperate with plans for that day. In the early morning of April 9, it was pouring and cold and raw. Many of the Newton Serves outdoor projects were officially canceled or rescheduled due to the weather. However, when in the late morning it brightened a bit, several of our local volunteers were undaunted and decided to move ahead anyway to get something done. Jane Quinn (Beautification Chair) mobilized some of the local neighbors in the effort. Others who had come to the park to play or walk their dogs joined in the efforts as well and despite the blustery weather, Wellington Park was a beehive of activity. The city had dumped a large load of pine bark mulch at the service gate and a load of topsoil inside. Jana Tolisano had earlier consulted with Jane about optimal placement of the Spirae bushes, which like full sun. Since they are small, it was thought that a cluster of them along the Kilburn Road fence, at the section without tree shade, would be ideal. Much of that area was covered with the mulch and the day lilies were planted in the same vicinity. With the current moisture conditions, the bushes seem to be doing very well and have already bloomed nicely! Janet Kuklinski led the effort to rehabilitate some of the very bare areas at the park with topsoil, manure, and grass seed. Thanks to the following individuals who helped out at the park that day (let me know if I forgot anyone!): Bob Mobilia, Dante Angelucci, Leonard Saunders, Ann and Michael Myers, Jane and Don Quinn, Lorraine, Scot, Gabe, and Florence (Scot's visiting Mom) Miller, Janet, Ted, and Chris Kuklinski.
It was decided to reschedule the main volunteer activity for the following Sunday, April 16 from 9:30 to 12:30. Again the weather was not favorable and we will reschedule a day in June (when it will be sunny for sure) to finish all the planned volunteer activities at Wellington Park. We still have lots of black paint for the fences and glass to clean up! Many of the Newton Community Ed Service Group are generously willing to come back another day.
Despite the dire forecast on Apil 16, from 9:30 to 12:30, it actually wasn't raining (too much) and a few brave souls came out. Special thanks to Margaret Kelley, of Chestnut Hill and a member of the Newton Community Ed Service Group, who helped scour the park periphery cleaning up trash. Also to Kelley Brown who helped with cleaning out the northwest corner of the park and to Chris Kuklinski (garden cart branch transport specialist). And huge thanks to Len Saunders, whose help and tool collection, was invaluable in cutting and pruning the intruding tree branches and saplings in the northwest corner and along the Southgate Park fence. The city was helpful in promptly removing the huge pile of branches and tree limbs from the park. Both of these Sunday efforts prove the point that it only takes a few determined people to make a big difference!
Our website has a section on it particularly for dog owners called "Canine Corner". Please check it out for various dog related topics, including such useful items as skunk spray remedies. Any of your contributions or commentary are most welcome. A version of the following notice was placed on our park bulletin board recently by one of our readers. It is reprinted below because it nicely addresses one of the main problems we have had at Wellington Park - dog poop. There are still a few irresponsible dog owners that do not pick up their dog's poop. Has this been a problem? Yes. In a recent Sunday (4/16/00) cleanup around the edge of the park, over a dozen dog piles were found and picked up by one of our volunteers. My impression is that the situation has improved a great deal lately. However, recently, there were two separate piles near one of the park entrances within 3 feet of the bags provided for the purpose of cleaning up the messes. So there is still some room for improvement, not only for those few dog owners. Just as annoying are those who discard gum and candy wrappers, cigarette pack and butts, cans, and other trash around the park. Please place trash in the receptacles provided at each entrance. We are committed to preserving the idea that Wellington Park be a welcoming place for all users.
Wellington Park has always been a very friendly and cooperative park. It has long been a place where people have met while their children played on the swings or gathered while playing fetch with their dogs. In recent weeks, problems have developed. Some dog owners have not been picking up after their pets and there are dog feces all over the place. This has led to unhappy neighbors with messy shoes. Some of the neighbors have complained to the town and now the park is being watched carefully by the Newton Police for violations of leash laws, issuing any dog owner with a dog unleashed a $50.00 fine.
Stepping in dog feces is a very unpleasant experience. Dog feces are a health hazard to people, especially to little kids who touch everything. Dogs on leashes poop just as much as unleashed dogs. It is the dog's owners responsibility to clean up after their pet. Bags have always been available on the tennis court fence and recently by the gates for that purpose. There is no excuse to leave behind dog droppings.
The hope is that soon we will be able to eliminate this problem and reestablish good neighborly relations with park abutters. If you do see anyone not picking up after their dogs, please write a description of person and dog to hang on a "Wall of Shame". If you see people just letting dogs out of cars to "do their business" note the make and model and if possible the plate number. For safety sake do not approach dogs and people you don't know. If you have hired a dog walking service please ask them to pick up after your pets or keep them out of the park. If you are a rebel and let your dog run and play, please be mindful of the children. Some children are scared of even the nicest dogs and even the nicest dogs are not always used to little children. Keep your dog on a leash around children. Let's keep this park a very cool place for everyone.
Please get on our email list. You will receive the Wellington News directly by email. It is the fastest and easiest way for our organization to keep in touch. Just send an email to WellingtonPark@aol.com or call (617) 969-6222 and leave a message. Or if you wish to be removed from the list let us know the same way. And of course, check out our web site http://wellingtonpark.8m.com. All back issues of Wellington News are available online. If you are not wired, just read our high tech cork bulletin board at the park. You are most welcome to submit items for publication here (childhood remembrances about the park, opinions, yard sale notices, etc.) by email or regular mail (Wellington Park News, c/o Ted Kuklinski, 24 Henshaw Terrace, West Newton, MA 02465).
There will be another Wellington News issued shortly. In this issue will
be a complete fundraising.