October 2009

Volunteer Effort Continues in Washington Park

The volunteer effort in Washington Park continues to increase. Our regular volunteer group “Friends of Washington Park” has been very busy with several projects from the boardwalk to the playground and everywhere in between. Our group held the first annual “Split for the Park” event in May. This event provided volunteers and neighbors a list of plants they could split from their own gardens and donate. The response was outstanding, with over 70 plants donated. The rest of the plants were purchased at a local nursery with funds raised through Memorial Brick sales and other donations along with our first place gift certificate from last year’s Springfield in Bloom contest. Thanks to this very dedicated group of volunteers the three main planting beds at the playground were cleaned up, over 125 donated and purchased plants were split with over 350 plants planted. Mulch donated by Chapman Stone finished out the project. All this was accomplished in just a little over three hours WOW!!!!!!!! In total, the Friends of Washington Park volunteer group and the Springfield Parks Foundation contributed approximately $1800.00 in plants and materials to the Park District. The project placed second in this year’s Springfield in Bloom contest. The volunteers were also responsible for planting the entrance sign areas throughout the park along with the flowers around the band shelter. Of course, none of this would be possible without the support of individuals like Chuck Smith, Chad Scaife and their staffs at the Springfield Park District.

Several other coordinated volunteer efforts also took place within the park. A hard working group of interns from the Illinois EPA spent the day near the old Iron Spring continuing our effort to restore the wooded areas to their natural form. Another wonderful group of volunteers were the members of Delta Church who committed to volunteering 1 day a month for 3 straight months. They were able to mulch most of the main walking trails within the woods along with cleaning up and weeding the playground area. It was truly a pleasure meeting and working with these groups. It goes without saying that without passionate, dedicated park patrons like these volunteers and contributors, projects like these would not be possible.

The Friends of Washington Park volunteers have been supporting efforts within the park for over two years now. If you would like to be a part of the Friends of Washington Park volunteer effort please contact Doug Reynolds at 553-1329, or through this website.