Fall Pot Luck: Sunday 9/14

With a cloudy/rainy afternoon forecast, Pot Luck has been moved to Sunday.

The heat has broken, and Fall is in the air.   A perfect time for a Picnic.

Come help us celebrate the start of the ESNA calendar year at a neighborhood Pot Luck & BBQ.  We'll have a grill with some burgers and dogs, but we're counting on you to make it interesting.   Bring your favorite dish to share with your neighbors!  

But most of all, bring a friend or a neighbor.   Meet your fellow Eight Streeters.   Learn more about the association.   Share ideas on how we can improve our neighborhood.

Join us on Sunday, September 14th from 4-6 in Ringgold Park.   

Please RSVP to potluck@eightstreets.org to let us know you're coming, what you can bring, and if you can volunteer additional time for setup, cleanup, and even manning the grill!   

Even if you can't RSVP or aren't a good cook, come on down and meet everyone!   

Complete details can be found on our pot luck web page.

Not sure if you're in Eight Streets?   Check out Neighborhood Map.

A Weekend of Cleanups

This weekend brings the annual Boston Shines cleanup to the South End, and several projects in our neighborhood.

On Saturday, May 10th the neighborhood has the following activities going on.

At 9:30 we continue our cleanup of Ringgold park.   By then the city should have delivered mulch outside the park.  We'll spend the morning mulching the various plant in the beds.  This will make the park look even better, keep the weeds down and keep plants form drying out over the summer.  We're also planning a plant sale for that morning - more information on that soon!

At around 9am Berkeley Community garden will also have another cleanup that morning, continuing their Spring Cleanup from last month.   Stop by the garden and give them a hand and meet our gardening neighbors.

At 8am our biggest effort will be another alley cleanup.  This year we will be cleaning up the alley between Hanson and Waltham streets.   Our security walk-through with BPD last month shows it would be a hazard to any first responders due to all the debris in the alley and the uneven ground due to dumping over the years.   We hope both neighbors and alley abutters will join us to take part in the alley cleanup.   Boston Shines will provide tools and bags, and will make a special pickup to remove this larger debris.  meet in Ringgold Park (and in the alley) to help out with this cleanup.

If you abut this alley and have personal property in the alley, please remove it before Saturday so it doesn't accidentally get cleaned out on Saturday.

A flier with alley cleanup details can be found here (pdf)

Hopefully you can take park in one of these cleanup efforts and help make our neighborhood shine!!   Even if you can only take some time to sweep and clean the sidewalk in front of your home, every little bit will help.

Cleanup & More Cleanup

Thanks for a great Cleanup!

We'd like to thank everyone who took part in the Ringgold park cleanup this past weekend.   We had a
great crowd and cleaned up a lot of winter debris - 40+ bags for parks to take away and compost.   it was great meeting all our neighbors, and the park looks ready for Spring.    During Boston Shines, may 10th, we'll be getting free mulch from the city, and meet back in the park to mulch around the plantings.

We have a bunch of photos on our Facebook page.

Thanks to

• All who participated, of course!
• Friends of Ringgold Park, for coordinating with the city
• Parks Department, for access to tools and for doing a special pickup to collect the bags of debris
• The Wholey Grain, for some great coffee to start our day!

We hope some of you want to become more involved in Ringgold Park.   A number of FoRP board members will be stepping down, and we'd like to get park neighbors to step forward and help out.   Please contact Michael if you're interested in joining the Friends, or would just like some more information.

Speaking of cleanups

Last month we went on an alley security walk with Officer Litto.   One alley we walked down is the Waltham/Hanson alley.   The alley was in rough shape, filled with lots of debris.   Officer Litto was concerned that if Police or Fire had to respond to an emergency, they would rick injury themselves trying to navigate the alley in the dark.

We'd like to get Waltham/Hanson alley abutters together to do an alley clean-up on Boston Shines day, May 10th.   If enough neighbors get together, we can provide tools and arrange for DPW to pick up everything we remove from the alley.   In the past neighbors helped clean up the Hanson/Milford and Milford/Dwight alleys, and we hope the Waltham/Hanson neighbors will be just as enthusiastic about cleaning up their common alley!

If you abut the alley, please contact John and I'll put you in touch with the folks organizing the cleanup. This would take place the morning of May 10th, as part of Boston Shines.  (and in conjunction with our Ringgold mulching.

Hope to see you then!

Ringgold Park Clean-up

Mark your calendar

April 12th we'll have a cleanup of Ringgold Park.   Let's get the park ready for Spring and the Easter Egg hunt.  This is your chance to get involved, meet your neighbors, and to be the one to make your neighborhood a cleaner place to live.

You'll also get a chance to meet some of the current Friends of Ringgold Park members.  The Friends is looking for more members, as well as some local residents to join the board of FoRP.   Many of the current board no longer live in the area, and we need local residents to step forward and take up leadership positions.

The Parks department will provide tools, gloves and bags, and ESNA will be providing some coffee and goodies.  All you need to bring are good spirits and a willingness to make our neighborhood a better place.

Hope to see you there!!

Saturday, April 12th, starting at 9am.   
Rain date Sunday, April 13

Download the flier with this link.   Print out and share with your neighbors!!

next Ringgold Park community meeting

From the South End News:


Wednesday, June 13, 6:30 p.m.
Blackstone Community Center 
2nd floor Computer Room, 
50 West Brookline Street, South End.

The Boston Parks and Recreation Department and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services invite the public to the third in a series of meetings to discuss upcoming playground improvements to Ringgold Park in the South End.  The proposed project includes improvements to the play areas.  For further information, please call (617) 961-3058

Ringgold Fountain - Grand Opening

This Saturday, May 6, Ringgold Park will have the Fountain Placa Opening Celebration.    Join Mayor Menino as we celebrate the latest addition to our local park as the fountain is officially opened.   The Mayor will also be there for his coffee hour, and will provide free coffee & treats for the celebration.

Stop by and join the fun!

Sunday, May 6, 12:30-2pm.

• Ringgold Notice on the event
• Mayor's Coffee Hour Notice for Ringgold.

In addition, on Tuesday, May 10, there will be another community meeting for Ringgold Playground improvements.

The Parks Department is very interested in what the community has to contribute to the design process. Representatives from Copley Wolff Design Group, as well as a Parks Department official, will be on hand to give a brief presentation of the project scope and existing site conditions. Following this brief presentation, community members will be able to offer input regarding the material presented, the program for the park, and the design process.

May 10th, 76:30 pm, Blackstone Community Center - 2nd floor computer room

Ringgold Notice for the playground meeting

A Ringgold Park Weekend

Join the fine folks at Ringgold Park for a weekend full of activities.

Stop by Ringgold this Saturday (4/7) between 9am and noon for the annual Spring Cleaning.  Help clear away the winter buildup and get the park ready for a great summer!

And on Easter Sunday the Friends are hosting their annual Easter Egg Hunt. Great fun for the kids!!  FoRP also thanks a special volunteer who came forward to organize the event.  Park access will be restricted before the hunt while the goodies are hidden.

If you're interested in helping out on the board, send an email to the Friends.

Ringgold Playground community meeting

A reminder that This Thursday there will be a public meeting on the playground improvements for Ringgold park, scheduled to take place this summer.

 At this meeting the Parks department is looking for community input on the design for the play ground areas. What would you like to see? What kind of materials would you like to have? What kind of play areas are you looking for?

All neighbors are welcome to attend. Get involved in the latest changes to our park!!

Thursday, April 5 
6:30pm 
Blackstone Community Center (50 W Brookline, across from Franklin square) 
2nd floor computer room 

For more information you can contact Cathy baker-Eclipse at parks dept. 617.961.3058 or cathy.baker-eclipse@cityofboston.gov.

Click here to download an event flier (pdf).

Ringgold Park updates

Spring is almos there, and like the bird and flowers, the great folks of Friends of Ringgold Park are making their return and gearing up for the return of warmer weather.

Friends is on the lookout for some new board members.   If you enjoy the park, live near the park, or just want to get a little more involved, the boar dof Friends of Ringgold is looking for new members!!   Contact ringgoldpark@verizon.net to join or for more information.

Upcoming events:

• Community meeting on playground improvements.  April 5, 6:30, Blackstone community center. We are excited to announce that the City of Boston is holding a public meeting to discuss the 2012–2013 playground improvements to Ringgold Park! The meeting will take place at the Blackstone Community Center, 50 West Brookline Street, 2nd floor. This is your opportunity to comment on the playground renovation design, so please mark your calendars and plan to join us!
• April 7 - Spring Cleanup!!! We have our spring cleanup scheduled for Saturday April 7th from 9 to 12. Please stop by the park for a few minutes or hours to lend a hand as we tidy up after winter. Tools, gloves, and refreshments will be provided.
• April 8 - Spring Easter Egg Hunt - if they get volunteers!!!  Contact ringgoldpark@verizon.net to help out or for more information.  If volunteers can't be found to help organize the event, they won't be having a hunt this year...
• May 6, 12:30 - Fountain Plaza Opening Celebration. Please join us for our opening celebration of the new fountain plaza in Ringgold Park! Mayor Menino, Parks Commissioner Toni Pollock, City Councilors, Parks employees, and Ringgold friends and neighbors will join together in the park to admire the newly constructed fountain. Refreshments will be provided — please stop by and say hello!

To keep up on all the latest park news, visit http://ringgoldpark.org/news-events and sign up to have news delivered to your inbox or your favorite RSS reader