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Vol. 4, No. 6
Sunday, September 15, 2002
Contents | Wellington News | Home
Contents | Wellington News | Home
Wellington Park News is an email publication of Citizens for Wellington Park. There have been a lot of new developments related to the park lately. This edition will be a short summary of some of the most pertinent.
Contents | Wellington News | Home
September is here again and it's time for our annual Parkfest. Where has the summer gone? Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 29! It's the date of our Fourth Annual Wellington Parkfest. It is scheduled from 1 to 4 PM at the park. In case of severe rain, it will be rescheduled in October. So what is the Wellington Parkfest? The Parkfest is really just a big block party, whose primary purpose is to let people in the Wellington Park neighborhood get to know each other a little better. It was the brainchild of Ann Dorfman, one of our Wellington activists. The first year we announced plans to organize building a playground at Wellington, the next year we officially opened the new playground. There are more great changes coming to Wellington Park over the next year. Come and meet your neighbors. Please come and bring your friends along. All are welcome even if you don't live nearby.
We could use some help with organizing this event. We need to print up some small flyers and need volunteers to help distribute them on each street if possible the week before. This involves just leaving them inside the door, on the porch, or by a mailbox. Any volunteers to coordinate this? Of course, we could use some help in putting signs on poles around the neighborhood (and taking them down afterwards).
At the Parkfest, it would be helpful if people could bring some picnic or card tables and portable chairs or benches. We still don't have too much seating at the park but that will change soon!. Coolers with ice for drinks would be helpful. We plan to provide soda, hot dogs, and ice cream again this year. If anyone wishes to donate soda, ice cream, hot dogs, plates, etc. it would be most appreciated. Bob Mobilia has again volunteered to be hot dog grillmaster (around 2 pm). We would like to hear from any of you who have helped in the past, whether it be facepainting, children's game organizing, prize provider, buying (or getting donated) soda, hotdogs, etc. If you would like to help in any way, please reply to this email at wellingtonpark@aol.com or call or leave a message with Ted at (617-969-6222).
If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution to help support the Parkfest or improvements at the park, it is quite easy to do. Just send a check to the Wellingtion Park Fund, c/o NCSC, 492 Waltham Street, West Newton, MA 02465. The most important thing is just to come and meet your neighbors. So come on down - you're all invited!
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The most exciting Wellington Park news recently concerns our court reconstruction which has finally been approved. This was originally proposed for the CIP (Capital Improvement Program) for Newton several years ago by our local aldermen - Anthony Salvucci, Dick Bullwinkle, and Leonard Gentile. There are many such improvements needed in the city and finances have been very tight for such improvements over the past several years. Mayor David Cohen had promised to consider our request in recent years and, in the recent budget, he included $60,000 for the Wellington improvements in the current CIP and the budget was subsequently approved by the Board of Aldermen. It is likely that with the passage of the recent override, the funds were more readily available for such projects. Our Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Fran Towle, related that the court work would probably be put out to bid next April with the work actually being done next June. The timing was such to avoid it being too wet for the work during the spring rainy season. If you happen to see Mayor Cohen, our aldermen, or the Parks and Rec folks (Fran Towle, Bob DeRubeis, or Tom Cahill), please thank them for their efforts toward bringing Wellington Park back to being a first class park. Stay tuned for more developments.
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Our path project is on track as well. There have been some modifications to the design which make it a bit simpler. No new gates will be added to the play area. The current double entrance gate to the play area will connect to the path to provide handicapped access. The path from the Kilburn Road entrance was moved slightly to accommodate an accessible properly sloped path connection into the play area. There will be a total of four new benches, one near the existing play area bench (facing the opposite direction outside the play fence), two along the play fence parallel to the court, and one near the water fountain. The final drawing will be posted shortly and will be reviewed by the Planning and Recreation Departments and then given to Public Works who will do the work.
At some point we hope to get an additional tree to place along the play area fence by the water fountain to provide shade to that section. As you may recall, one of the four Sugar Maples, donated by Phil Mastroianni, closest to the swing area was damaged and died. These trees eventually will provide needed shade from the morning and early afternoon sun on the play area. Wellington is indeed a pleasant place for respite in the late afternoon and evening due to the shade from the maples on Kilburn Road.
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Linda Angelluci offered some time ago to contact a graphic design friend of hers to possibly come up with a unique logo that we could use for Wellington Park. It possibly could be used on our website, newsletter, and especially on a sign at the park. Well, he has come up with some early ideas and we would like some feedback. Copies will be available soon on our website and will be at the Parkfest. The next Wellington Park News will include them as an attachment (just wanted to give you warning in this era of computer viruses). Take a look and give us some feedback. Any signage at the park would probably have to get approval from the Parks and Recreation Commission but at least we can get the process started. Many people do not know the name of our little park and a sign would be most helpful.
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One of our park regulars lost his keys at Wellington Park last weekend (September 7-8). He believes that he left them near the timbers that border the garden area parallel to Kilburn Road. If anyone saw them, possibly found them, or knows someone who might have found them, please let us know (wellingtonpark@aol.com). Thanks!!!
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Last spring, I attended a public meeting on possible CPA (Community Preservation Act) projects held at the Mason Rice School. It was a pleasant surprise to see the title slide on the presentation included the group photo from our playground build, perhaps as a good illustration of "Community".
The new gate at the Princess Road entrance has been working fine. The latch there may be slightly tricky however. One needs to lift it slightly in order to have it drop down properly.
The Parks and Recreation Department did provide a renewal of wood chips at the play area in late spring and the grass was cut on a regular basis over the summer. Tom Cahill, our liaison at Parks and Rec, has been terrific at addressing any problems that have come up.
A local couple with baby (and small dog) need to move out of their current Henshaw St. apartment soon but would like to stay in the neighborhood. Anyone know of a lead-free apartment or house nearby?
A number of our Wellington Park neighbors and supporters have moved over the past months. Ellen Andrews, who lived next to the park on Princess Road recently relocated to Shrewsbury. Thanks Ellen for all your help on the Play Committee and for hosting a number of our meetings. The Rousson's, another of our park supporters, also recently moved. However, we are happy to know that Dr. Rousson still maintains his dental office above CVS. A special welcome to all the new neighbors that have come into the Wellington Park area recently. It is also interesting that we see a number of people who are visiting the area often visiting relatives who become familiar with our park. We hope you find the Wellington Park neighborhood to be a welcoming community.
We note with sadness the recent passing of John Kearney (Princess Road) and of Mrs. McCarthy, Bob McCarthy's mother (Henshaw Place).
Get out and vote in the primary on Tuesday. For many of us, the polling place is at the Newton Community Service Center at 492 Waltham Street, which coincidentally is the non-profit sponsor of our organization.
Drinking has occasionally been a problem in the back area of the park (behind the tennis court). If you see any negative activity in the park please don't hesitate to call the police. We have noticed another phenomenon related to drinking. On occasion, there are large amounts of beer cans left in the trash barrels, not because the drinking took place at the park, but rather that there was a party held at someone's house (perhaps while parents were away) and they needed to get rid of the evidence.
Someone had placed "Asbestos" warning stickers on some of the signs near the play structure. These have been removed. Please note that there is not asbestos in our play area. Information as to who placed these would be appreciated.
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Susan Abele, the Jackson Homestead's Curator of Manuscripts and Photographs, will speak at the Newton Free Library about the current exhibit at the Jackson Homestead. Susan is an experienced birder and put together the exhibit on Charles Maynard Johnson. This West Newton native (whose house is on Craft Street) began his career as a "shotgun" ornithologist, but by the turn of the century had become a teacher and environmentalist. His "Walks and Talks" book series provides a fascinating glimpse of birding in Newton in the early 1900's (e.g., one passage notes the presence of bluebirds on Eliot Avenue). For more info call the Jackson Homestead at (617-552-7238) or the library at 617-796-1360.
Once known as "Squash-End", West Newton consisted of only a few building and several small farms. The village was, however, located on the Natick Road (now Washington Street) and became a popular stop for travelers to the area's western communities. From 1848 to 1932 West Newton was the center of Newton government. Meet in Ryan Memorial Park next to the Police Station at the corner of Washington and Cherry Street. Parking is available in the public lot off Cherry street. This walk is cosponsored by the Jackson Homestead (617-552-7238) and the Mayor's Office for Cultural Affairs with funding from New Balance.
This walk is an opportunity to view the expansive waters of the Lake District along with intimate trails and the historical Waltham Watch Factory. The trip goes through varied terrain and walkers should wear comfortable shoes and long pants. The program starts at the Auburndale Playground and travels along Ware's Cove and the MDC Forest Grove to the Waltham Watch Factory and the north side of the Charles River through Waltham and Weston. The loop is completed by traversing Norumbega Park and Lyons Field. Meet at the sandy beach at Ware's Cove near the children's playground equipment at 2:00 PM. Leader: Peter Kastner, 617-244-6094. This walk is sponsored by the Newton Conservators (newtonconservators.org) as part of their Fall walk series.
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Wellington Park is certainly big sky country. It could be a very good place to do some night sky watching for meteors and the like. I am always delighted at some of the birds that I see there. Not too long ago, a flight of about 25 migrating Common Night Hawks graced the air over the park in the early evening. Earlier in the summer, on several occasions, a Great Blue Heron was seen flying across perhaps on its way back to the Charles River. Norm Westlund (on Henshaw Street) reported a Ruby-throated Hummingbird visiting his flowers a few weeks ago and earlier a Baltimore Oriole visiting. For the first time, we have had a Carolina Wren take up residence in our yard with its very loud "tweet-i-du-tweet-i-du-tweet song.
Soon, visitors to the nearby Dolan Pond Conservation Area (off Auburndale Ave) will be in for a big surprise. Portions of the area are closed off currently while a new boardwalk, bridges, observation areas, and signage are completed, perhaps by the end of October.
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Park users are requested to help provide bags at the park entrances for dog waste and trash pickup purposes. It's a good use for those newspaper, supermarket, and convenience store small plastic bags. Just stuff them in one of the larger bags you may see around the park. Use of them really contributes heavily to the cleanliness at the park. Please don't litter at the park! Every litter bit hurts. Litter begets more litter. Thanks!
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The Wellington Park News email edition is the fastest and easiest way for to keep in touch with you. Others may be reading it on the park entrance clipboards. If you wish to subscribe, just send an email to info@wellingtonpark.org 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. Email addresses change often, so, if you used to get this newsletter and now don't (since you may be reading it on a clipboard), send us your new email address. If you send email to us, please try to put in the "Subject" something relevant about your email (e.g. "want to subscribe, help with the parkfest"). Due to being posted on the web, our address gets a substantial amount of junk span email most of which is deleted before reading. And of course, check out our web site www.wellingtonpark.org. Back issues of Wellington News are available online. Hope to see you at the park soon!
Contents | Wellington News | Home
Contents | Wellington News | Home