Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The 4th Annual Friends of Brown Street Park Spring Clean up!

We got rained out last Saturday, but we still need to wake the gardens up for spring. Please join us on Saturday, April 30, from 11:00-1:00 for a major park cleanup. We’ll have snacks and water and lots of park projects that need your help. Please email meg@friendsofbrownstreetpark.org if you would like to lead a team of mulchers, planters, etc. This day is about getting down and dirty and prepping our garden beds for spring. Over the last three years the beds of perennials and shrubs have grown and spread and they need taming, dividing and transplanting. If you can, please bring: shovels, rakes, trowels, buckets for transplanting, native perennials you'd like to donate, wheelbarrowsto help spread mulch, pitchforks to help spread mulch....small native shrubs you'd like to donate (check with Meg first on the type) meg@friendsofbrownstreepark.org. Be sure to mark your tools with masking tape! And let Meg know if you'd like to be a team captain. Check the Website for updates.

Web Volunteer Needed
We have been falling a bit behind on our FBSP website postings. We need a volunteer to spend a couple hours a month updating the FBSP website. If you can help, please email wendy wendy@friendsofbrownstreetpark.org. We will even show you how to do it if you don't have experience. If you do, even better!

2nd Annual Friends of Brown Street Park Fitness Expo
Saturday, May 14 from 2-5. rain date, Saturday May, 21. Come sample the fitness classes that will be held at the park this summer and try something new! Featuring our fitness partners: East Side/ Mt Hope YMCA, Crossfit Providence, Elyse Rotondo's OM Kids Yoga, Brown Street Park ring swingers, Parkour and more. Sample classes for kids, adults, and family.
Crossfit Providence will be having adult and kids classes from 2-3 PM.
Between 3-4 PM, the East Side/Mt. Hope YMCA will be offering short workout sessions demonstrating a variety of workouts including TRX and Kettlebells.
Jonathan Montalbano, a local gymnast who has been practicing Parkour for the past 8 years, will also be demonstrating this energy-efficient means of transversing one's environment.
There will also be demonstrations of the stationary and traveling rings at the park.
We'll be wrapping things up from 4-5 PM with yoga classes for adults and kids.

See what the Brown Street Park will be offering this summer and give us feedback to help us finalize the summer fitness schedule. For a full schedule of the day’s events, information and updates, check the FBSP website. Free. Sponsored by Whole Foods University Heights

Our Spring Line-up of children, adults/teen and family classes is now available on the FBSP website.

Summer Concert Series and a Call for Volunteers
We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting our 4th Annual Providence Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative summer concert series in July and August brought to you by the Mayor, Angel Taveres, the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism and the Department of Parks and Recreation. While the four concert dates have not yet been finalized, volunteers to staff the concerts are needed! Approximately 3-4 volunteers per event are needed to help set-up our fundraising snack table (thanks to our generous sponsor Whole Foods University Heights), staff the table during the two-hour event, and then break-down the table. 30-minute to 60-minute shifts per person are appreciated. This is a great opportunity to enjoy great music, give back to the community, and meet your hungry neighbors! Please email David concerts@friendsofbrownstreetpark.org if you can help.

Community Garden Prep
April 30th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Community Garden members come and roll up your sleeves for mulch distribution over paths, compost piles maintenance, general clean up.Please bring your own tools.
For information on this year’s Community Garden membership and activities, please check the FBSP website.

Thank you Brenda Shannon
The Board of FBSP would like to thank Brenda Shannon for four years of outstanding service to our community. Brenda played an integral role in bringing all of the events, classes and programs we all enjoy to BSP. We will miss her greatly. We are, however, excited that Brenda is using her extensive list of talents to help our community grow through the Providence Children’s Film Festival.

New Signs
Thanks to our Friends, Molly Regan at Logica Design and Rebecca Zub and Jim Larkin at Graphic Innovations, each entrance to the park has it's own new sign. Signage for the community garden will be coming soon.

Ice Skating Update
Brown Street Park wasn’t been totally at rest this winter; for the first time we put together a skating rink for everyone to enjoy. The bad news is that we got a late start in the season and there were technical challenges and not enough sustained cold weather to allow skating. The good news is that we learned a lot about putting a rink together and have a tremendous corps of volunteers who will be ready to install the rink in the winter 2011-12 skating season. We want to thank the Park Penguin Sponsors who generously supported construction of the rink, they are listed on the BSP website.

More Thanks
We are grateful to all the partners and friends who did so much other stuff behind the scenes this winter: Bartlett Trees for taking care of all of our trees after a brutal winter, Wastehaulers for keeping us clean and green, The Department of Parks and recreation, A-Z Auto shop in North Kingstown and Brown University for snow removal, and the fabulous corps of volunteers led by Mike Paradiso and Pedro Dal Bo for attempting our ice rink.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Earth Day 2011 @ Brown Street Park 4/23/2011

Come one, come all, this year's Earth Day celebration is about getting down and dirty and prepping the garden beds for spring! The fun on Saturday April 23, 2011 starts at 2:30 and continues until 4:00 PM. (Sunday April 24 will be the rain date.)

Over the last three years the beds of perennials and shrubs have grown and spread and they need taming, dividing and transplanting.

Please come help help "wake" Brown Street Park up for warmer weather.

The following is a list of things to bring (if you have them, there will be lots of extra tools available as well):
  • Shovels 
  • Rakes 
  • Trowels 
  • Buckets for transplanting 
  • Native perennials you'd like to donate 
  • Wheelbarrows to help spread mulch 
  • Pitchforks to help spread mulch
Small native shrubs you'd like to donate. Please contact Meg if you have any you can bring via email at meg@friendsofbrownstreepark.org

Also be sure to mark your tools (masking tape works great)!

Please also let us know if you'd like to be a team captain for bed mulching, perennial dividing, perennial plantings, and drip-line irrigation system maintenance.

2011 Brown Street Park Fitness Expo

The annual Fitness Expo will be happening on Saturday, May 14 from 2-5 PM (rain date 5/21). Come and sample some of the fitness classes for adults and kids which will be held at the park over the summer and give us your feedback before we finalize the summer schedule. Here's what's happening at the Expo:

2-3 PM: Crossfit Providence will be holding adult and kids' classes
3-4 PM: The East Side/Mt. Hope YMCA will be offering short workout sessions including TRX and Kettlebells.
4-5 PM Family Yoga

We'll also have free runner Jonathan Montalbano demonstrating parkour which he'll be teaching at the park this summer.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

April 2011 FBSP News Byte

4th Annual Friends of Brown Street Park Earthday Celebration and Clean up

Saturday, April 23rd from 2:30-4:30 featuring Joe’s Backyard Band. We will have snacks sponsored by our friends at Whole Foods University Heights and lots of things for the kids to do with our friends from the East Side/Mt. Hope YMCA. Come one, come all, this year's Earth Day celebration is about getting down and dirty and prepping our garden beds for spring. Over the last three years the beds of perennials and shrubs have grown and spread and they need taming, dividing and transplanting. If you can, please bring: shovels, rakes, trowels, buckets for transplanting, native perennials you'd like to donate, wheelbarrowsto help spread mulch, pitchforks to help spread mulch....small native shrubs you'd like to donate (check with Meg first on the type) meg@friendsofbrownstreepark.org. Be sure to mark your tools with masking tape! And let Meg know if you'd like to be a team captain. Check the Website for updates.

2nd Annual Friends of Brown Street Park Fitness Expo
Saturday, May 14 from 2-5. rain date, Saturday May, 21. Come sample the fitness classes that will be held at the park this summer and try something new! Featuring our fitness partners: East Side/ Mt Hope YMCA, Crossfit Providence, Elyse Rotondo's OM Kids Yoga, Brown Street Park ring swingers, Parkour and more. Sample classes for kids, adults, and family.
Crossfit Providence will be having adult and kids classes from 2-3 PM.
Between 3-4 PM, the East Side/Mt. Hope YMCA will be offering short workout sessions demonstrating a variety of workouts including TRX and Kettlebells.
Jonathan Montalbano, a local gymnast who has been practicing Parkour for the past 8 years, will also be demonstrating this energy-efficient means of transversing one's environment.
There will also be demonstrations of the stationary and traveling rings at the park.
We'll be wrapping things up from 4-5 PM with yoga classes for adults and kids.

See what the Brown Street Park will be offering this summer and give us feedback to help us finalize the summer fitness schedule. For a full schedule of the day’s events, information and updates, check the FBSP website. Free. Sponsored by Whole Foods University Heights

Our Spring Line-up of children, adults/teen and family classes is now available on the FBSP website.

Summer Concert Series and a Call for Volunteers
We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting our 4th Annual Providence Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative summer concert series in July and August brought to you by the Mayor, Angel Taveres, the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism and the Department of Parks and Recreation. While the four concert dates have not yet been finalized, volunteers to staff the concerts are needed! Approximately 3-4 volunteers per event are needed to help set-up our fundraising snack table (thanks to our generous sponsor Whole Foods University Heights), staff the table during the two-hour event, and then break-down the table. 30-minute to 60-minute shifts per person are appreciated. This is a great opportunity to enjoy great music, give back to the community, and meet your hungry neighbors! Please email David concerts@friendsofbrownstreetpark.org if you can help.

Community Garden Prep
April 30th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Community Garden members come and roll up your sleeves for mulch distribution over paths, compost piles maintenance, general clean up.Please bring your own tools.
For information on this year’s Community Garden membership and activities, please check the FBSP website.

Thank you Brenda Shannon
The Board of FBSP would like to thank Brenda Shannon for four years of outstanding service to our community. Brenda played an integral role in bringing all of the events, classes and programs we all enjoy to BSP. We will miss her greatly. We are, however, excited that Brenda is using her extensive list of talents to help our community grow through the Providence Children’s Film Festival.

New Signs
Thanks to our Friends, Molly Regan at Logica Design and Rebecca Zub and Jim Larkin at Graphic Innovations, each entrance to the park has it's own new sign. Signage for the community garden will be coming soon.

Ice Skating Update
Brown Street Park wasn’t been totally at rest this winter; for the first time we put together a skating rink for everyone to enjoy. The bad news is that we got a late start in the season and there were technical challenges and not enough sustained cold weather to allow skating. The good news is that we learned a lot about putting a rink together and have a tremendous corps of volunteers who will be ready to install the rink in the winter 2011-12 skating season. We want to thank the Park Penguin Sponsors who generously supported construction of the rink, they are listed on the BSP website.

More Thanks
We are grateful to all the partners and friends who did so much other stuff behind the scenes this winter: Bartlett Trees for taking care of all of our trees after a brutal winter, Wastehaulers for keeping us clean and green, The Department of Parks and recreation, A-Z Auto shop in North Kingstown and Brown University for snow removal, and the fabulous corps of volunteers led by Mike Paradiso and Pedro Dal Bo for attempting our ice rink.

Welcome Gardeners!

Hello All,
Happy entrance into Spring and welcome to another growing season with the BSP Community Garden!


***** FIRST WORK DAY OF THE SEASON *****
April 30th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Come and roll up your sleeves for mulch distribution
over paths, compost piles maintenance, general clean up.
Please bring your own tools.


A few things to share:

1. There is a team effort leading the garden this season. HOORAY, and thank you.
Nicole – membership and payments
Willis – Web-site/blog
Willis and Rebecca – administrative tasks/coordination, contact people and outreach
Kate and Eamon – finances & BSP Board members and liaisons

2. This is our new format for Community Garden group communication, using a google group (bspcg@googlegroups.com). We have updated the membership list to reflect the new season's community -- let us know if you are receiving emails but don't want to be.... If you have something to share with the whole garden group, please use this google group.

3. There is polypropylene available in the garden for covering early spring plantings. (It was used for the skating rink.) If any gardeners would like to recycle the rink plastic to protect their plants/start early you are welcome to it.

4. April 23rd  will be  Brown Street Park Day come and join in the fun!

5. April 30th, the following Saturday, 10:00 to 2:00 will be the first work day for the Community Garden – come and roll up your sleeves for mulch distribution over paths, compost piles maintenance, general clean up, other tasks? Please bring your own tools.

6. Reminder! The Community Garden is organic – no chemical fertilizers, etc.

7. Organic kitchen waste from members may go in compost. MUST not include ANY fat or protein. If in doubt….leave it out!

7. Please share your ideas for what to grow in your beds – success stories from last year and lessons learned the hard way! Remember that vine plants and things that grow very large may end up encroaching on your neighbors’ beds. Plan carefully!

See you all soon!
Willis

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