westriverpeacegarden

[westriverpeacegarden]

October News & Updates

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

Due to some unforeseen circumstances we are canceling the Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for tonight. Because of Thanksgiving next month, we won't be meeting on the 4th Thursday in November, but I will be in touch about a rescheduled date.

Other updates: 

* The Peace Garden is still looking pretty nice and some pleasant fall colors are on display. Below are a few pictures from last week which can also be seen at our website, westriverpeacegarden.org. We will be meeting to work at the Garden this Friday at our usual time, 9:30am - 11am.

* We continue to work with the West River Memorial Park Renewal Team and the National Park Service on how to better connect some of the parks in the West River watershed, including the Peace Garden (see our previous newsletter for more about this partnership). Please let me know if you would like to participate in these meetings. The next one is November 20. 

* We have started to remove the purple plum tree in the front of the Garden, which has unfortunately been dying. It was one of the original plantings in the Garden when it was first installed 25 years ago. We are sad to say goodbye to the plum but we are excited about replacing it with a beautiful new magnolia tree that will be around for many years (hopefully).

* I saved some of the common milkweed seed pods from the Peace Garden before they popped open. If anyone wants to add some pollinator-friendly milkweed to your garden, please let me know and I can give you some seeds -- you can join us on the New Haven "pollinator pathway" that is sustaining local fauna and biodiversity!

________________________

Thanks for your support of the Peace Garden, and thanks for voting in the upcoming election!

Aaron Goode

Friends of the West River Peace Garden

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

September 2024 News & Updates

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I hope you are having a nice early autumn and wanted to provide a few updates about the Peace Garden.

No Advisory Committee Meeting This Week - Next Meeting October 24, 6pm

The West River Peace Garden Advisory Committee will not meet this Thursday as several core members (including me) have conflicts. Our next meeting will take place on Thursday, October 24 at 6pm. Zoom information will be included in the next newsletter. We will be seeing a presentation developed by Paul Bloom about possible future improvements to the Garden -- hope you can make it.

Peace Garden Work-Days Resume Every Friday, 9:30-11am

Our work-days at the Garden will resume this Friday, September 27. Although the milkweed, coneflower and black-eyed susans have started to fade, the garden is still looking nice -- our roses and coreopsis are still in bloom, as well as begonias and stonecrop and goldenrod.

We continue to work every Friday morning to maintain and enhance the garden, from 9:30-11am. If you can't make it at that time but want to help with watering, please let me know! We are planning to have a new tree planted soon to replace one of the dying trees at the Garden, at which point we will need extra help with watering.  

Community Outreach Efforts

Peace Commission member Fred Brown and I participated in the Community Service Fair at Albertus Magnus College to help find New volunteers for the Peace Garden. We talked to many students about the Peace Commission, the Peace Garden, and how young people can support peace-building efforts in the community.

Thanks to Sister Cathy of Albertus Magnus for the invitation!

Also, Millie Grenough and I have been attending the meetings of the West River Memorial Park Renewal Team, which is a unique partnership of groups working to enhance West River Memorial Park (WRMP) through a technical assistance grant from the National Park Service. We are advocating for better connections between the Peace Garden and WRMP. Let me know if you would like to participate in this ongoing collaboration.

International Day of Peace Celebration

Last week, the Peace Commission celebrated International Day of Peace at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School. It was the Commission's 15th year of dedicating Peace Monuments across the City to express the yearning for peace in all corners of the community. Thanks to Mayor Justin Elicker, Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School, Superintendent Negrón and all our speakers and participants, especially the wonderful students who led the celebration.

Read more about the celebration here.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments, and thank you for your continued support of the Peace Garden and of peace in our community and around the world!

Aaron Goode Friends of the West River Peace Garden westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

New Peace Monument Dedication for International Day of Peace

Please join us September 20 at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School!

[westriverpeacegarden]

What's Blooming at the Peace Garden?

What's blooming at the Peace Garden? Our flowering ceanothus is out in full force, giving us some brilliant blue color and great nourishment for the butterflies. Goldenrod is also at its peak, blazing away in its yellow splendor, and our roses, coreopsis and black-eyed susans continue to give great color as well. Be sure to check it out when you're in the area!

[westriverpeacegarden]

Hiroshima & Nagasaki Atomic Bombing Commemoration Events This Week

[westriverpeacegarden]

July News & Updates: Visit With Solar Youth, Ongoing Work-Days, Peace Garden in the Media

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy summertime and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden:

No Advisory Committee Meeting Tonight - Next Meeting August 22, 6pm

The West River Peace Garden Advisory Committee will not meet tonight as several core members (including me) have conflicts. We will meet on Thursday, August 22 at 6pm. Zoom information will be included in the August newsletter. We will be seeing a presentation developed by Paul Bloom and Jerry Poole about possible future improvements to the Garden -- hope you can make it.

Peace Garden Work-Days Every Friday, 9:30-11am

The garden is looking very nice -- lots of things are in full bloom, including our purple coneflower, bee balm, orange butterfly weed, and rose of sharon -- and we continue to work every Friday morning to maintain and enhance the garden, from 9:30-11am. It is important that we have at least 2-3 volunteers attend each work-day so that we can continue our collaboration with Urban Resources Initiative (URI). You can show up for all or part of the time. Pictured below is our summer URI intern Avery, who is doing a masterful job!

Also, now that we are in the middle of the summer heat, we need additional watering done during the week -- please let us know if you can come ANY DAY of the week (at your own convenience) to water the flowers and new plantings.

Finally, note that there will be a bus tour of different URI greenspaces on Thursday, August 8 -- all greenspace volunteers are welcome to attend, just sign up at this link.

Recap of Meeting With Solar Youth on July 25

We welcomed a wonderful group of Solar Youth summer campers to the garden on July 25, and got a chance to talk with them about how a peaceful world and a healthy environment are inextricably connected. Frank P. told the story of how we got our Hiroshima 'survivor tree' (grown from the seed of a ginkgo that survived the atomic bombing on August 6, 1945) and Millie led a discussion on the many different meanings and manifestations of peace at home and abroad.

And thanks to the youth for their help with watering! Come back anytime! (Check our social media for more photos of the Solar Youth visit.)

Peace Garden in the Media!

The Peace Garden was featured in this article in the New Haven Independent by Allan Appel about our ongoing efforts to bring more resources to the Garden so that we can elevate it to its full potential. Click here for the full story, and please share with your networks!

Aaron also got a chance to talk about the Peace Garden (albeit briefly) in this segment on WNPR's morning radio program "Where We Live" that featured New Haven Riverkeeper Peter Davis and his tireless efforts to clean up the West River watershed. Take a listen.

Finally, be sure to check out (and share!), if you haven't already, this great article in the New Haven Independent, “Gardeners Grow the Peace in West River,” from earlier this year about our work with the students and the vision for peace that animates our stewardship of the Peace Garden.

West River Memorial Park Renewal Grant

We are excited to announce that the West River Watershed Coalition, of which we are a partner, was awarded a National Parks Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance grant for 2024-25. This one year grant, “West River Memorial Park Renewal,” gives the Coalition and its partners and the City of New Haven Parks and Public Works Department, the City of West Haven, and the Urban Resources Initiative technical assistance to renew and promote West River Memorial Park so that more New Haveners, West Haveners, and people of all ages and abilities may enjoy the natural beauty and recreational features of the park.

We will be represented on the steering committee that is working with the National Park Service to implement the grant. Questions about this? Ideas for renewing West River Memorial Park and making it more accessible and better connected with the Peace Garden? Contact us!

_______________________ Thanks for your ongoing support and we hope to see you soon at the Garden!

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

facebook.com/westriverpeacegarden

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

June 27 Advisory Committee Agenda

Reminder that we have an Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, June 27 at 5pm. Below is the agenda. Contact us for Zoom info.

[westriverpeacegarden]

June 2024 News: Next Advisory Committee June 27; Weekly Work-Days at the Garden EVERY FRIDAY; Recap of Meeting with Parks Department

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy summertime and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden.

* Next Advisory Committee Meeting, June 27, 5-6pm (On Zoom) 

Please join us for our next advisory committee meeting on June 27 at 5pm. Note that we have switched to meeting on the fourth Thursday of the month now; also please note that this meeting will begin at 5pm. We will be discussing how to move forward in both the short- and long-term. There will be a presentation and discussion about possible long-term improvements at the Garden led by Paul Bloom and Jerry Poole. I will send a more detailed agenda next week. Contact us for Zoom information.

* Peace Garden Work-Days Every Friday, 9:30-11am

The garden is starting to look very nice and we continue to work every Friday morning to maintain and enhance it, from 9:30-11am. It is important that we have at least 2-3 volunteers attend each work-day so that we can continue our collaboration with Urban Resources Initiative (URI). You can show up for all or part of the time. Pictured below is our new URI intern Avery, who is already doing a masterful job!

Also, now that we are in the heat of the summer, we need additional watering done during the week -- please let us know if you can come ANY DAY of the week (at your own convenience) to water the flowers and new plantings. 

* Recap of Meeting With Parks Department on June 14

On June 14 we attended a meeting of all the greenspace groups with officials from the Parks Department, organized by URI. We reiterated to the deputy director of the parks department our longstanding desire to have a convenient water source at the Garden, and improved access (esp. vehicular) to the Garden. We were also assured that while changes are happening to the Parks & Public Works Department as part of a governmental reorganization that will begin with the new fiscal year on July 1, nothing will change with respect to the mowing or other maintenance at the Peace Garden. If you have questions about this meeting, let us know. 

* West River Memorial Park Renewal Grant

We are excited to announce that the West River Watershed Coalition, of which we are a partner, was awarded a National Parks Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance grant for 2024-25. This one year grant, “West River Memorial Park Renewal,” gives the Coalition and its partners and the City of New Haven Parks and Public Works Department, the City of West Haven, and the Urban Resources Initiative technical assistance to renew and promote West River Memorial Park so that more New Haveners, West Haveners, and people of all ages and abilities may enjoy the natural beauty and recreational features of the park. We will be represented on the steering committee that is working on implementing the grant. Questions about this? Ideas for renewing West River Memorial Park? Contact us. 

* 11th Annual West River Water Festival, July 13

The 11th annual West River Water Festival will be taking place on Saturday, July 13 at West River Memorial Park. We will have a table at the festival to let people know about the Peace Garden. Please let me know if you would like to help out. 

_______________________

Thanks for your ongoing support and we hope to see you soon at the Garden!

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

Springtime at the Peace Garden

Our purple plum tree is blossoming, the tulips are out, and we are starting to see some great colors at the Garden!

Next time you're in the area, please come by and check it out! Or contact us for a guided tour.

[westriverpeacegarden]

April 25, 2024 Advisory Committee Meeting Reminder

Dear Peace Garden Friends,

Reminder that we have a West River Peace Garden advisory committee meeting THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 25 at 6pm. Note that this is different from our usual meeting day. The Zoom information is below and the agenda is attached, along with a document from Jerry Poole that we will be discussing at the meeting. 

Also please be sure to check out (and share!) this great article from the New Haven Independent that appeared last week, “Gardeners Grow the Peace in West River,” April 19, about our work day last week with students from Albertus Magnus.

And please note that we will resume our regular FRIDAY work-days this Friday, April 26, from 9:30 to 11am (unless it's raining heavily). Hope you can make it.

Thanks.

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

April 2024 Peace Garden News

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy springtime and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden:

* Ground-breaking for New Housing Development, Curtis Cofield Estates

The official groundbreaking was held on March 28. It was a wonderful, joyous and well-attended event bringing together people who have been involved with the project going back more than two decades, as well as many dignitaries from all levels of government. See media coverage here. We are already looking forward to the ribbon-cutting sometime next year!

[Photo credit: New Haven Independent]

* First Peace Garden Work-Day of the Year, Thursday, April 18, 10am-12pm

We are very excited to be joined for our inaugural work-day of 2024 by students from Albertus Magnus College for their Day of Service! We will be planting flowers and tidying up the garden. There is lots of work that needs to get done so please come if you are available! NOTA BENE: In case of rain, we will meet on Friday, April 19.

Please come for some or all of the time if you can. The following week we will resume our regular work-days on Friday.

* Advisory Committee Meeting, THURSDAY, April 25, 6pm [Zoom]

Please note we are changing the day (from Monday to Thursday) of our advisory committee meeting. We are going to try meeting on a different day of the week to see if it enhances participation, which has fallen in recent months. You can find the Zoom log-in information at the end of this email. We have a lot of important planning to do for 2024, and decisions to make about the direction of the Peace Garden, so we hope you can attend.

Also attached to this email is a document from Jerry Poole that we will be discussing at the meeting. Contact us for Zoom information!

* Earth Day Community Clean-Up in West River

This is not our event but a community clean-up in West River that we wanted to let you know about. Great way to celebrate Earth Day!

_______________________

Thanks for your ongoing support and we hope to see you soon at the Garden!

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

March 2024 Peace Garden News

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

We wanted to wish you a happy springtime (almost) and to let you know a few things:

* Next Advisory Committee Meeting: Monday, March 25, 5:30pm

Our next advisory committee meeting will take place on Monday, March 25 at 5:30pm on Zoom. Please note we are meeting half an hour earlier than usual. Please contact us for the login information. We will be discussing our agenda for 2024. Hope you can make it!

* Curtis Cofield Estates Groundbreaking Ceremony, March 28

In November 2023, the 16 Miller Street property was formally sub-divided and the eastern portion fully transferred to the private development group, New Haven Housing Company LLC, and work on the development has finally begun. Read more in this New Haven Independent article. The official groundbreaking ceremony originally scheduled for last month has been rescheduled to March 28. Please RSVP to rsvp@nhpfoundation.org. 

Congratulations to WRSHIP on their perseverance in seeing this project through to its final phase, and we hope to see you at the groundbreaking. [Invitation attached.]

* First Work-Day of the Season, April 18, 9am

Our first work-day of 2024 on Thursday, April 18 coincides with the Albertus Magnus College Day of Service and we will have several volunteers who are faculty, staff and students at Albertus. Please note this is a Thursday, not our usual work-day though in case of inclement weather, we will meet at our usual time on Friday.  Let us know if you are able to come for some or all of the time, or just show up!

* Donations to the Peace Garden for Gardening Equipment and Supplies

We have not actively solicited donations for the Peace Garden other than in-kind donations but if you would like to make a monetary donation to defray the cost of gardening supplies, we now have formal permission from the Peace Commission to accept donations using the Commission as our fiscal sponsor. Please contact us for details.  

********************************

Thanks for your support and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden

[westriverpeacegarden]

January 2024 Peace Garden Advisory Committee Meeting

We will be meeting on Jan. 29 at 6pm for our first advisory committee meeting of 2024. Please contact us for the Zoom information.

[westriverpeacegarden]

End-of-Year 2023 Peace Garden Update

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

Hope you are enjoying the holidays. I wanted to let you know a few things:

* Next Advisory Committee Meeting: Monday, January 29, 6pm

We will not meet in December due to the holidays. Our next advisory committee meeting will take place on Monday, January 29 at 6pm on Zoom. The Zoom information is at the end of this email. Hope you can make it!

* Housing Development at 16 Miller Street - Construction Has Finally Begun

As of late November, the property was formally sub-divided and the eastern portion fully transferred to the private development group, New Haven Housing Company LLC, and work on the development has finally begun. Read more in this New Haven Independent article. If you would like to comment on the article in support of the development while mentioning the synergy between the development and the Peace Garden, and the mutual desire for calmer traffic around the development area, that would be a nice gesture and reminder to the public of our shared goals. Congratulations to WRSHIP on their perseverance in seeing this project through to its final phase.

* Work-Days Paused Until the Spring

Our last work-day for this year was December 15. We were able to successfully fulfill our goal of spreading all the pine mulch that we recently received from URI. That will help to keep the weeds down until spring. Thanks to Frank Panzarella, Paul Bloom, Frank Cochran, and all our other regular workers. We will resume our work-days in April. Look forward to more gardening with this great team in the spring!

* Donations to the Peace Garden for Gardening Equipment and Supplies

We have not actively solicited donations for the Peace Garden other than in-kind donations but if you would like to make a monetary donation to defray the cost of gardening supplies, we now have formal permission from the Peace Commission to accept donations using the Commission as our fiscal sponsor. Please contact me for details.  

********************************

Thanks for your support in 2023 and happy holidays!

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden

[westriverpeacegarden]

Agenda for October 30 Advisory Committee Meeting

Please contact us for log-in details.

[westriverpeacegarden]

October 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to remind you that we have an Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for next Monday, October 23 at 6pm. The Zoom information is at the end of this email.

We continue to meet on Friday mornings to do work at the Peace Garden, and will be meeting this Friday, October 20 (weather permitting). Thanks to volunteers Frank Panzarella and Paul Bloom for being part of our core team -- they have been doing a fantastic job. However we can always use more volunteers -- please let me know if you are interested in helping at the Peace Garden but cannot come on Fridays. We can figure out a list of tasks that you can help with on your own schedule. 

NOTICE OF SCOPING FOR 16 MILLER STREET - Because state funding is involved, the State of Connecticut has to do an environmental impact analysis of the project at 16 Miller Street considering all historic and natural resources that could be affected, and therefore must be evaluated under the CT Environmental Policy Act. Interested parties may write to the CT Housing Department. Learn more at the following link (#3): https://portal.ct.gov/CEQ/Environmental-Monitor/Environmental-Monitor-Archives/2023/September-19-2023#Scoping

FINALIZATION OF MISSION STATEMENT - We are working on finalizing the organizational mission statement that we started working on a while ago. Please go to this link and let me know if you have suggestions, or if you have strong preferences for Version 1 or Version 2. This will be a primary topic of discussion at our next meeting in October.

ANOTHER NEW BENCH AT THE PEACE GARDEN - Thanks to Frank and Paula Panzarella for donating the materials for a second bench at the Peace Garden! As part of ongoing improvements, we now have two benches at the Garden. Please check them out the next time you visit. Would you like to donate materials to improve the Garden? Let us know!

MEETING WITH CITY ENGINEER AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT TO DISCUSS PEACE GARDEN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS - [I mentioned this in the last newsletter -- it is still a work in progress.] The City of New Haven still has funds available for park improvements through federal ARPA legislation from 2021. Recently the City Engineer has been meeting with park "Friends" groups across the City to determine the allocation of these funds for capital improvements in parks and greenspaces. I am hoping to set up a meeting where we can discuss with City officials the improvements we would like to see at the Peace Garden. Details TBA. 

________________________________

Thanks for your support.

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

September News & Updates

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to remind you that we will not be meeting tonight at our usual time because it is Yom Kippur. Our next meeting will be Monday, October 23 at 6pm. I will send out Zoom information in a subsequent email.

We continue to meet on Friday mornings to do work at the Peace Garden. Thanks to volunteers Frank Panzarella and Paul Bloom for being part of our core team -- they have been doing a fantastic job. However we can always use more volunteers -- please let me know if you are interested in helping at the Peace Garden but cannot come on Fridays. We can figure out a list of tasks that you can help with on your own schedule. 

Below are a few updates about the Garden.

* Ground-breaking for New Housing Development at 16 Miller Street

The official ground-breaking for the WRSHIP/NHP development adjacent to the Peace Garden was originally scheduled for last Saturday, September 23 but it has been postponed. We will let you know when a new date is scheduled. We are excited for the project to finally get off the ground and we are confident that, when completed, it will enhance the Peace Garden and vice versa.

* Organizational Mission Statement

We are working on finalizing the organizational mission statement that we started working on a while ago. Please go to this link and let me know if you have suggestions, or if you have strong preferences for Version 1 or Version 2. This will be a primary topic of discussion at our next meeting in October.

* Another New Bench at the Peace Garden

Thanks to Frank and Paula Panzarella for donating the materials for a second bench at the Peace Garden! As part of ongoing improvements, we now have two benches at the Garden. Please check them out the next time you visit. Would you like to donate materials to improve the Garden? Let us know!

* Setting Up a Meeting With City Engineer & Landscape Architect to Discuss Improvements

[I mentioned this in the last newsletter -- it is still a work in progress.] The City of New Haven still has funds available for park improvements through federal ARPA legislation from 2021. Recently the City Engineer has been meeting with park "Friends" groups across the City to determine the allocation of these funds for capital improvements in parks and greenspaces. I am hoping to set up a meeting where we can discuss with City officials the improvements we would like to see at the Peace Garden. Details TBA. 

_______________________

Thanks for your support.

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org