Don't Be So Down On Carroll Park. Volunteer!

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The Diddle Diddle Dees

Opus Ditty

It has been a very tumultuous summer in Carroll Park. The message boards and blogs have been buzzing with the latest incident involving unruly teens hassling young parents and their tots.
All this negative publicity is unfortunate for our neighborhood park. So many wonderful things are happening there every day, so much fun for the kiddies.
As a long time member of the Committee To Improve Carroll Park, I would like to remind all Carroll Gardeners that in order to keep the park safe, clean and a jewel of the neighborhood, everyone needs to do their part. Get involved. Donate your time, come out and garden with us.
All those flowers blooming in the flower beds? All those great children's and adult concerts? All those fab movies shown? All those great events have been organized by the Committee.
Its amazing what a handful of people can do... but we need all our neighbors to get involved.
Our wonderful president is moving at the end of the month. Judy Rayner has done incredible things for Carroll Park and for all of the children in the neighborhood. She was the one who has tirelessly organized most of the great events in the last three years. It will be difficult to replace Judy and all she does. But we are hopeful that some of you young parents will help to keep such events as the Summer Children's Concert Series alive.
So how about it! Don't be so down on Carroll Park. Help ensure that the park stays safe for adults, children and teens too. VOLUNTEER!

email: friendsofcarrollpark@yahoo.com

Below is an email from Prez Extraordinaire Judy Rayner:

Part of what makes this neighborhood so special is Carroll Park. It's
the neighborhood gathering place for young and old alike. You can
bring your kids there and be assured you'll find a new playmate or an
old friend. New parents can make connections and old timers can relax
in the shade or play a game of bocce right next to teens playing
basketball.

So much goes into keeping Carroll Park beautiful and vibrant that
people are unaware of. Most people assume that the park is maintained
using your tax dollars. This is not so. While your taxes pay for
basic cleaning and maintenance, that's about it. The remainder of the
work is done and paid for by volunteers from The Committee to Improve
Carroll Park. For instance, we share a gardener with every other park
in the district. That means he's at Carroll Park once every few
weeks. If we relied on him, the park would look as barren as the
Sahara Desert. It's volunteers who do 90% of the gardening, including
planting, weeding and watering. The Parks Department doesn't even
supply the plants and materials. That's all paid for with money we
raise.

Another example: Kathleen runs the recreation program during the
summer and is paid by the Parks Department, but they don't give her
many supplies. Most of the beautiful art projects your kids bring
home are purchased with money raised by The Committee to Improve
Carroll Park, which costs us about $2000 a year!

Why am I telling you all this? I'm not only the president of The
Committee to Improve Carroll Park, but I also run all the children's
programming in the park, including the Kid's Concert Series, It's My
Park Day, the Halloween Carnival and other special events. I plan
them, run them and raise the money for them, pretty much by myself.
I'm not saying this to toot my own horn. I'm saying this because, in
August, I will be moving to Connecticut and there is no one to take
over for me.

I'm looking for volunteers to fill this void. The job is a big one,
but can easily be split between a number of people. For instance,
someone could book the bands for the concert series, another could
raise the money, a third could do the publicity and a fourth could
actually run the events. I'm begging people to come forward, please,
and take on this responsibility. I'm happy to share my knowledge and
resources with you. I'd just hate for all my hard work to be in vain,
because nobody steps up to take over for me.

If this seems like too much of a time commitment, I implore each of
you who use the park to volunteer just 3 hours a year. You can pull
weeds, plant, paint the fences, ask for donations, apply for grants,
buy supplies, put up flyers, send out emails or update our website.
If each of us finds it in our hearts to volunteer just a little time,
Carroll Park will continue to be the amazing neighborhood gathering
place it's always been.

Sincerely,

Judy Rayner, president
The Committee to Improve Carroll Park