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Vol. 2, No. 3
Tuesday, February 22, 2000
Our next Wellington Park meeting will be on Tuesday, February 22, 2000, 7 P.M. at the home of Lorraine and Scott Miller, 377 Waltham Street. All are welcome. There will be an approximately one-hour presentation by David Loker of Landscape Structures. We plan to reschedule the Tittle Tikes presentation (which was postponed) and schedule a GameTime presentation shortly.
A park meeting was held on Wednesday, February 16, 2000, 7-9 PM at the home of Ellen Andrews on Princess Road. Many thanks go to Ellen for her willingness to host this meeting and for providing such wonderful goodies to munch on (reason enough to come to these meetings). She even had to duck out for a time to tend to an unscheduled all-star hockey game in which her son played (multitalented family!). Thanks to Ann Dorfman for putting up the signs around the park about the meeting and for making phone calls to the folks who are not on our email notification list. We had a very good turnout for the meeting (17 in all).
The meeting attendees introduced themselves and we were happy to have several new faces. Lorraine Miller (Play Structure Committee) chaired the meeting. We were to have a presentation by Mark Gallagher of Little Tikes, but unfortunately, his daughter' s accident that day prevented him from attending. We hope to have him back for a presentation in the very near future.
Alderman Salvucci is committed to having the city supply benches and picnic tables, which would not necessarily come from the $12,500 allocation for the park improvements. On the play structures, we have received drawings from three vendors: GameTime ($15K based on our original request; they have subsequently provided another plan to be more consistent with the other proposals which will be put on our website shortly), Little Tikes ($11K + cost of wood timbers), and Landscape Structures ($11K which includes wood framing timbers).
There was some discussion of fences around the structure. Do we want one or not? Some were in favor of a fence in order to separate dogs from children. Others argued that it is a barrier to entering the structure and we already have enough fences in the park. A fence around the play area would also represent an additional expense.
There was some talk about whether to have the play area raised or not. Ann reported that Waltham's policy seems to be more in-ground, while Newton seems to favor the elevated play surface. She is in favor of a surface flush with the external surface for better access and to prevent anyone from tripping getting onto the play surface. The Parks people contend that it is less expensive to build and easier to maintain (moisture drains), leaves don't collect, and kids can sit on the edge.
Ann Dorfman reported that she may be meeting with the mayor in the near future. She promised to mention Wellington Park concerns. We need to remind the city about seeding in the spring so that Wellington Park finally gets seeded correctly.
The question was raised about the Fibar wood chips that would be at the playground. Who is responsible for replenishing the Fibar? Does the city have a stockpile that they use to refurbish various playgrounds?
The Play Structure Committee plans to have the play equipment manufacturers come in a series of meetings to give a presentation to our group (including the presentation 2/22 by David Loker of Landscape Structures). The companies are quite comparable in their products. The differences may be in the extras. Underneath play activities (such as a store counter) were a plus since they provided alternate activities for little ones. Some differences in manufacturers might be in the size of the bridge supplied (e.g. 8 foot versus 6 foot). The proposals may vary in terms of whether Fibar is supplied or not. By having the representatives come in, we will have the opportunity to ask detailed questions and hopefully be more educated as to what our wants and needs are in the play structure.
It is essential that those interested go out and see playgrounds. Kick the tires. See if they are holding up. See what kids are doing on the structures (though it is a little hard with the current snows). Check the last newsletter for directions to various play structures.
Ann Dorfman reported on her looks at playgrounds. She liked the playgrounds at the Fitch and Whittemore schools in Waltham. These are by "Playground Environments", a company which we had not previously considered. The Whittemore is just down Parmenter (the street just opposite the old Mass Hardware, the other end of Parmenter is off Derby Street close to Franklin School). Another one by this manufacturer is opposite the Watch Factory in Waltham.
In looking at other playgrounds, she saw a hole in one of the equipment pieces (Little Tikes). Another attendee reported a cap off on another structure and a handlebar that was broken. Lorraine noted some loose items at a Newton playground (Landscape) that took some time to get fixed. These may be indications of quality. Presumably such items are under warranty. What has happened with that? So if you are out looking at playgrounds, look for the problem areas. We can query the representatives about any of these problems. It was noted that the Landscape Structures equipment at the Fessenden School is a more expensive line that the Landscape Structure equipment at Webster Common; it is also designed for older kids.
Lorraine Miller reported on the Newton Serves project scheduled for April 9, 2000. We have been approved as one of the 50+ volunteer projects to work on community projects in celebration of the millennium. We expect to have 25-30 volunteers for a four-hour project. We certainly hope that many of you will join in this volunteer effort. Many of the volunteers may come from other parts of the city. Circle April 9 on your calendar as a day on which you will help to improve Wellington Park. We will provide sign-up information for Newton Serves in the near future here in the news and on our website links.
Among the possible projects were a glass sweep, planting flowers or bulbs, paint the fence, fix the gates, clear brush at the edge. Reseeding the field could be done but the parks people feel that the seeding could perhaps be done more effectively under contract. They do promise a more effective job this spring. A glass sweep may require gloves, etc and some precautions but from our original survey this is certainly a high priority item. There was some discussion of bulbs and whether they could be planted in the spring (fall planting may be necessary for daffodils or tulips). But perhaps there are other flowers that could be planted to help beautify the park ( e.g. chrysanthemums). Jane Quinn (beautification chair) reported that some trees have been promised for the park (but again it may be better to let the professionals do the planting and we probably won't have anything by then). Parks endorsed the idea of clearing out some of the brush around the edges of the park. Jane cautioned that we really don't want to disturb some of the growth on the surrounding fences which functions as a kind of green privacy wall for the abutters.
The Parks/Rec people felt that fixing / tightening up the gates by volunteers was a worthwhile endeavor. Painting the fence was endorsed by them but it is indeed somewhat labor intensive (but we may have enough volunteers to do it). Parks may be able to provide black paint for the project. We are proposing painting just the Kilburn Road fence (about 275 feet) and a small section around the Princess Road entrance (about 35 feet). It was thought that the higher tennis court fence would be left since it may be replaced if the courts are redone (and since it would take a lot more work with its height). With any of our projects, we need to figure out what supplies (trashbags, rakes, gloves, etc. we need to supply and which will be provided). We will also be looking for baking / goodie / drink volunteers on April 9 to keep our hard workers supplied with energy.
As a post meeting note, Lorraine and Ted met briefly with Myra Tattenbaum, our assigned project coordinator for Newton Serves (who is also one our city aldermen) on Tuesday morning. She toured the park, making note of some of the ideas suggested for April 9. She also learned a little more about the park history, and what has happened thus far, and became familiar with some of the major park issues.
At the meeting, there was an extensive discussion of the issue of dogs at the park (and their droppings). While most dog owners are responsible, there is a minority who are not picking up after their dogs. Dog owners, please watch your dog, pick up, and pick up other droppings you see. A near future issue of Wellington News will address these issues in much more detail. If you have any comments on this issue please forward your comments ideas to us at dogs@wellingtonpark.8m.com
Our fundraising campaign started in earnest last week. We have two forms of our letter, one for local businesses and one for neighbors. Our fundraising chairperson, Nancy Davis, will be contacting local businesses. She has a mailing list of businesses in the 02465 area code (unfortunately 5 years old). If you know any businesses that might be interested in helping us, please contact Nancy Davis (princessned@yahoo.com) for copies of the business letter. Jane Quinn is our coordinator for local neighborhood distribution. Jane Quinn and her husband Don have been out delivering our blue neighbor fundraising letters. If you receive more than one we apologize. If you would like to help volunteer to distribute the letter on your street please contact Jane (jdquinn5p@rcn.com, 332-3191). If you were thinking of making a donation, please do it soon so that we will have a better idea of just how much we can allocate for the play structure. Please send checks to our non-profit sponsor Newton Community Service Centers Inc., Wellington Park Fund, 492 Waltham Street, Newton, MA 02465.
We will be acknowledging any donations with a thank you note. This may be a requirement for tax purposes that we state how much was given in the donor thank you. We may publish a list of our donors (not amounts) on our website (unless the donor objects). We will also acknowledge the business donations on our website. We hope to wrap up the fundraising campaign by March 15 so we can use the amounts collected to specify our play structure order request.
Susanne McInerney (617-558-2777, sue@ma.ultranet.com), told us about an exciting fundraising opportunity for our park though the Alliance Charitable Fund. Basically if you are interested in buying or selling a home through Susanne, a certain portion of the broker's fee would be donated a charity of choice (which certainly could be the Wellington Park Fund). We will have further details on this program upcoming.
Please get on our email list. You will receive the 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. And of course, check out our web site http://wellingtonpark.8m.com. 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 News, c/o Ted Kuklinski, 24 Henshaw Terrace, West Newton, MA 02465).