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Vol. 4, No. 8
Sunday, October 8, 2002
Contents | Wellington News | Home
Contents | Wellington News | Home
We never know how the Wellington Parkfest will turn out. With hurricanes hitting the coast every week or so, the weather can always be a big unknown and we didn't have a rain date. But the weather was indeed just about perfect - fantastic blue sky and temps around 65 degrees. Preparation for the Parkfest always seems a little chancy. We could always use a few more volunteers to help get ready for it. Is there anyone out there who would like to be the organizer for next year's event? However, despite the uncertainty, it seems to come together. It's always a little slow getting going around 1 pm but by later that day, the park was a beehive of activity. Hopefully a lot people got to meet each other. The Wellington neighborhood has had a lot new families over the past year and the Parkfest is a terrific time to make new acquaintances and renew old ones.
There were many who helped out in various ways and I'm sure that someone will be missed here. But sincere thanks to those who helped in any way and to everyone who came. Thanks to those who provided tables and chairs (Scott Miller, Carol Kelley, Janet Kuklinski, and others!) at the park and those delicious goodies that were on them (many folks!). Lenny Saunders provided the flag at the gate. Carol Kelley arranged for plates, bowls, napkins, and plastic ware via a wonderful donation from Party Works (of Needham). Lorraine and Scott Miller came through with a trip to Costco to pick up our supply of all beef hotdogs, soda, juice, and water. Bob Mobilia did terrific duty again as grillmaster - we even had some tofu pups and kosher dogs on hand as well. I received a call afterwards from one attendee from Cherry Street raving over how the hot dogs were cooked just right and the buns toasted to perfection.
Neighborhood newcomer Katie Callahan assisted at our welcoming table making sure that visitors got a name tag and entered into our door prize drawing. She was relieved later in the afternoon by some other helpful volunteers, Anna and Elissa. Katie's daughter and another friend did some face painting and helped blow up the balloons with helium. Thanks to Brian who helped with the kid's games (the Wellington Olympics, bowling for children, bicycle balancing, etc.) and to whoever brought the giant soccer ball again! Amy provided chalk for the many wonderful chalk art works that were done on the Wellington court. Thanks to Jon McIntire who sent along some pictures from the Parkfest which we hope to get on the website soon. One of the most popular services available was provided by neighborhood newcomer Adam, who brought his bike stand and tools and provided bike tune-up services. That really epitomizes what Parkfest is all about. Everyone has talents to share.
By the way, Cindy Mapes suggested that perhaps we ought to perhaps have a neighborhood bike exchange. Kids rapidly outgrow their bikes and with all the kids in the neighborhood, someone could probably use that old outgrown bike. Wellington has always proved a good training ground for young bike riders. Look for more on this soon. Anyone interested in organizing something like this, please contact Cindy. Cindy is also quite an accomplished folk musician and singer. Perhaps we should have concert at the park next year. Also, maybe there are folks out there who might be interested in getting together for an informal picking or singing party.
We put up a temporary bulletin board near the Kilburn entrance. On it were posted the new path plans and some possible logo designs for comments. Watch the bulletin board for sheets where you will have some logo designs to comment upon. We are still at an early stage on this.
The Parkfest was a totally free event. However 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 Wellington Park Fund, c/o NCSC, 492 Waltham Street, West Newton, MA 02465. Newton Community Service Center is our non-profit sponsor and the holder of our Park improvement and maintenance funds.
Registrants were entered in our door prize drawing for Paddy-O gift certificates, Ben's Coffee House, and West Newton Cinema. Winners will be published in our next issue. Special thanks go to the newest eatery in West Newton, Paddy-O's at 97 Elm Street for generously supplying the pair of $25 gift certificates (good at either Paddy'O's or their sister restaurant, O'Hara's, in Newton Highlands. Paddy'O's is at the site of the former Troubador. Some of you runners may remember the local road race, The Troubadour Trot which benefited Newton's Special Needs program. Paddy-O's has generously agreed to sponsor its successor race, the Shillelagh Shuffle on Sunday, October 20th. Pick up your entry form at Paddy-O's if you are interested.
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Sometime on Saturday, October 5, the play structure was vandalized with graffiti. Primarily the tube slide was spray painted with black paint inside and out. Four names, ADAM, ERIC, MIKE, and VINCE, were painted as well as a number of other words. The names painted are not necessarily the names of the perpetrators. If anyone has any information on this act of vandalism, We would appreciate hearing from you. This has been the first serious act of vandalism on the new play structure. Thanks to Bob Mobilia and Max Senter who quickly went to work on Saturday with paint thinner to try to remove what they could.
The police were notified and sent over an officer to take a report on the incident. Shortly thereafter another officer appeared to take pictures. A youth officer will follow up. There is an officer in Newton who is assigned to dealing with all graffiti related vandalism. The good news is that we have a container of "Graffiti Remover" from GameTime, the equipment manufacturer, which appears to work quite well at removing the damage. Parks and Recreation has also been notified and will perform the bulk of the removal. The officer who responded suggested that perhaps a light in the vicinity of the play structure would take care of any after hours activity there.
I have received a report from a mother who recently scoured the play area and cleaned up a large number of cigarette butts and several glass bottles. The largest concentration of butts was found under the structure, leading one to believe that perhaps some folks are congregating there after hours. If you are a parent, please refrain from smoking in the play area and especially do not dispose of any butts or other trash there. Please deposit any refuse in the trash cans at the park entrances.
This is a serious affront to all those who worked on the play structure project. We really need the cooperation of all park users to report on such wanton destructive acts as soon as possible. It would be appreciated if you see such vandalism in progress that you report it immediately to the police. Otherwise please let the Park Committee know about it at 617-969-6222 (d/e) and we will contact the police about it. Small acts of graffiti that are uncorrected can lead to more!
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If you have been following the Mass Pike toll situation you know that the Pike is considering reinstating tolls at West Newton. There were some hearings in the summer but there were complaints that they occurred when a lot of people were away on vacation. We received the following note: "We have formed a group to fight the toll booths re-installation at exits 16 and 17 of the Mass Pike in Newton. We think that the resulting traffic would flood residential streets of West Newton, Newton Corner and further. There are also issues of safety and environmental pollution as well as financial problems. This Wednesday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m. at the Newton Free Library (Meeting Room A, across the hall from the auditorium), we will meet with Kay Khan, Ruth Balser and the community for the second time to discuss all of the above." If you care about this issue, please consider attending. For more information, please contact Anatol Zukerman (a_zukerman@attbi.com).
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There has been increased pressure on those with dogs at Wellington Park, resulting in a number of tickets being issued recently (including to your editor, whose vicious golden retriever is almost certainly a severe threat to the general populace, when he's not catching Frisbees or amusing small children with his tricks). Anyone interested in fostering better relations between dog owners and non dog-owners at Wellington Park is invited to join our Canine Affairs Committee which was formed last spring. Please contact Robin Rouse (robin_rouse@us.ibm.com). Some time in the near future, an aldermanic committee will be considering some dog related issues (dog parks, restricted off leash hours, etc). A possible association of dog owners in Newton may be formed. If you are potentially interested in such a city wide dog association, please contact Joyce Traister (joycetraister@rcn.com).
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On Thursday, October 10 at 5:30 pm there is a free show at the West Newton Armory (the castle like building on Washington Street) of Rhythmic Gymnastics. From the poster there, it looks like a combination of dance and gymnastics. For those who may not know, the Armory is also host to the largest volleyball league program around the Boston area, run by Boston Ski and Sports Clubs (www.bssc.com). On Fridays, there is even pickup volleyball for all levels from beginner to experienced.
If anyone went through Henshaw Terrace yesterday and found it blocked or was wondering about the digger and dump truck there, it was another example of one of the most useful services provided by the city - sewer line replacement. Often, old sewer lines become infiltrated with tree roots causing blockages. The city sewer department provides scheduled ($25) or emergency unclogging services at very reasonable rates. In some cases the blockages become so frequent that the pipe needs replacing. Our old clay pipe sewer line was apparently installed in 1872 - not too bad to have to replace it after 130 years! Compliments to the city's sewer crew workers.
Anyone interested in the West Parish Burying Ground - that's the cemetery at River and Cherry - one of three historic burying grounds in Newton? There is an effort underway to obtain grants to do some improvement and restoration there. Please contact us if you are interested.
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Wellington Park News is an email publication of Citizens for Wellington Park. If you would like to receive it by email just send a request to wellingtonpark@aol.com. 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 spam email, most of which is deleted before reading. Normally we do not send out mail with attachments (a common source of viruses). If we do on rare occasions send an attachment (e.g. a park diagram), we will alert you as to its detailed content in the body of the email.
And of course, check out our web site www.wellingtonpark.org. Back issues of Wellington Park News are available online. Hope to see you at the park soon!
Contents | Wellington News | Home
Contents | Wellington News | Home