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FRIENDS OF JAMAICA POND
36 Perkins St., PO Box
300040, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0030 A program of Community Service Care, Inc. a non-profit, tax exempt organization Like our page on FaceBook for updated notices on
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 'Let it be not for present use and delight alone, but let it be of such a work that our descendents will thank us for it." Frederick Law Olmsted |
Jamaica Pond Project is
a non-profit
organization
dedicated to restoring and preserving this "gem" of Frederick Law
Olmsted's Emerald Necklace. Boston's Emerald Necklace is a series of
parks and parkways -- Franklin Park, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica
Pond, Riverway, and Back Bay Fens, which connects
to Commonwealth
Avenue Mall, Boston Public Garden, and Boston Common to create
a
seven-mile linked necklace of green spaces. Olmsted described Jamaica Pond as
"favoring great
beauty in reflections and flickering half-lights." Jamaica Pond is a
60-acre kettlehole formed by an ancient glacier. Olmsted Park is named
in honor of the man who designed the Emerald Necklace. This park has
woodlands, meadows and three ponds: Ward's, Willow and Leverett. National Park Service reading and guide
with maps and
photographs on the design of the Emerald Necklace http://www.cr.nps.gov/nR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/86bostonparks/86facts3.htm Jamaica Plain Historical Society's web
pages with history articles and photographs of pond HERE Jamaica Plain Historical Society's web
page on the
Native American Algonquin tribe Massachusetts led by sachem, Kuchamakin
(after whom Jamaica Plain and the pond are probably named) HERE Ancient Fishweir Project:
Native people over
5,000 years ago built 4 foot high fishweir fences in the tidal
flats of the back bay which later became the Emerald Necklace parks to
catch herring, alewife, smelt and salmon. Details: HERE Satellite Map provided by Digital Globe,
Sanborn, GeoEye MassGIS, Commonwealth of Mass EOEA Directions from Google Maps HERE History
and Annual Park Keeper Award Christine
Cooper
was a Founder and Project Director for the Jamaica Pond Project for 21
years from 1983-2004. She was responsible for directing the Sailing
School, the Open Classroom, operation of the boat house concessions,
information specialist, coordinating the public row boating and sailing
programs, maintenance of the bathrooms, parklands clean-up project
coordinator, motivator for major restoration programs; collaboration
with the Boston Police, Boston Municipal Police, State Police for the
safety of citizens in the parklands, partnerships with the staff of the
Boston Parks and Recreation Departments, partnerships with teachers of
the Boston School Department, a friend of hundreds and greeter of
thousands who visited Jamaica Pond. And by her nature and on-going
study, a passionate voice and example of carrying forward the legacy of
Frederick Law Olmsted. Each
year the Jamaica Pond Porject presents the Park Keeper Award to honor
Christine Cooper's legacy and the on-going stewardship required to
protect and preserve the park and environment. Charlie
Hauck, was
a Founder and Executive Director for 21 years of the Jamaica Pond
Project and 36 years at Community Care Center. Charlie fits the
description of being a gentleman and a scholar more than anyone.
Charlies relized in his life the noble aspiration which was Olmsted's
mantra from Thomas Caryle: "Do the Duty which lies nearest thee." Each
year the Jamaica Pond Project honors Charlie Hauck's legacy with the "Annual
Walk with Charlie." Tenth
anniversary
celebration of the Jamaica Pond Project 1993. Passages in the Life of an
Unpractical Man one-man
play by Gerry
Wright Photos by Renee DeKona FREDERICK LAW
OLMSTED Passages in the
Life of an
Unpractical Man one-man
play by Gerry
Wright "A hundred years after
his
death, America
continues to be challenged with issues of social justice and
conservation for which Olmsted was
a most persevering, principled
pioneer." Gerry Wright has
researched, written and produced a one-man show honoring the life and
work of Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture.
The play provides insights into Olmsted's passionate vision as he
played critical roles in the dynamics of slavery as a writer, Executive
Secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission in the Civil War, and as the
landscape architect for New York City's Central Park, Boston's Emerald
Necklace, the US Capitol grounds, along with multiple plans for
colleges, communities and private estates. Olmsted was a key
pioneer in the movement to preserve land as national parkland, both at
Yosemite and Niagara Falls. Olmsted's life story, from "vagabond," to dry goods
salesman, sailor, traveler, journalist, author, publisher, executive
(including a goldmine in California), to becoming the father of
landscape architecture in America is both inspiring as history and
reason for continued commitment in the 21st century. The Olmsted play has been presented at
the Olmsted
National Historic Site in Brookline, Boston’s 375th
Anniversary
Parade, Brookline’s 350th Anniversary Celebration, plus
numerous
communities of the Commonwealth; along with performances in Volgoda,
Russia; in New York City for the 150 year anniversary of the
legislation for Central Park; Olmsted Parks Conservancy in Louisville,
Kentucky; and in Asheville, North Carolina. Expanded
Program
Details, Videos, Photographs, Reviews HERE Environmental Butterflies, Dragonflies, Insects Monarch
Butterfly and Bring Your Own Butterfly Program
Emerald
Necklace Fungi (Coming Soon) Nature's
Class Room: Environmental Education Projects Alert: Emerald Ash Borer Invasive Beetle Discovered at Arnold Arboretum July 16, 2014 The
Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced that the
Emerald Ash Borer quarantine area will go state-wide as of Monday,
November 17, 2014. The quarantine area previously covered only
Berkshire and Essex County. Alert:
Asian Longhorned Beetle NOTE: Eradication Notice issued
on May 12, 2014 by DCR - "announce the eradication of the invasive
Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) in Boston. Boston is only the sixth area
in the United Six infested maple trees at Faulkner Hospital in
Jamaica Plain removed on July 6, 2010,
represent first confirmed Massachusetts presence of ALB in Boston.
Beetles killed 25,000 trees in Worcester in 2008. ALB infect
maples, birch, elms, willows and chestnut trees. To report suspicious tree damage, view
photographs and videos of tree damage, or read about the Asian
longhorned beetle, visit http://www.mass.gov/agr/alb.htm
or http://www.massnrc.org/pests/albreport.aspx
or call the toll-free Asian longhorned beetle
hotline at 866-702-9938 Other resources: http://www.massnrc.org/pests/alb/ http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/wood_attackers/asian_longhorned_beetle.html http://www.uvm.edu/albeetle/ http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/node/4246 Article in Boston Globe: Race to find damaging
beetles turns to radar. By Beth
Daley Charles
Darwin's Birthday February 12th To
learn more about albinism and gray squirrels click HERE Class
Room: Summer Emerald
Necklace Butterflies and Dragonflies:
A
colorful American
Copper, Tiger Swallowtailed, fluttering Cabbage White, Red Admiral
Butterflies, darting White Tailed and Eastern Pondhawk (young male is
green which latter turns blue) Dragonflies, Juvenal's Duskywing, secreative
Mourning Cloak,
Little Wood Satyr, a Monarch sipping nectar from Milkweed flowers, and
an American lady
(see Nature's Classroom web page for additional detail and links to
online field guides HERE) Bring Your Own Butterfly:
Yellow Iris
(Yellow Flag), OxEye
Daisy, Garden Phlox, Solomon's-plume (False Solomon's-seal) , False
Indigo, Canada
Hackweed, Daisy
Fleabane,
Tansy, Queen Ann's Lace, Chickory, Bull Thistle (see Nature's Classroom web page
for additional detail and links to online field guides HERE) Class
Room: Spring Spring Bird Migration:
Black and White Warbler, Yellow Rumped "Myrtle" Warbler, Eastern
Kingbird Visit
the next page to learn about the Spring Bird Migration. Click HERE Class
Room: Winter Winter Moth -
Operophtera brumata (L) Insect Order: Lepidoptera, Family: Geometridae Visit
the next page to learn about the Winter Moth. Click HERE Class
Room: Fall Cabbage White
Butterfly, Spotted Sandpiper and Woolly Bear Caterpillar Visit
the next page to
learn about the Cabbage White Butterfly, Spotted Sandpiper and Woolly
Bear Caterpillar. Click HERE Environmental
Research Projects Forestry
Protection Projects Emerald Necklace
Bird Club Complete
List of
Parks, Field Guide of Emerald Necklace Birds, Sightings by parks and
dates, plus Emerald Necklace Map Details HERE Volunteer
Stewardship Program: Help renew and restore the
parklands! Volunteer
stewards might help with anything from trimming plants on the banks of
the pond, pruning trees, and helping to control invasive plant species,
to planting a new landscape, reseeding a lawn, or repainting benches
and light posts. The opportunities are as varied as the views around
the pond. Brookline Pop Warner Football Team did a
Jamaica Pond Clean-Up on
October 7, 2006 Hoopz Excellence with Director Robert
Lewis joined the Spring Equinox Stewardship Day at Jamaica Pond
2010 Annual Earth Day Celebration Jamaica Pond
April Annual Lantern Parade October Annual Summer Solstice Celebration and Butterflies Over Boston June Calendar
and Meetings and Press Save the Boston Park Rangers'
Horses THINK
AHEAD FIFTY YEARS! Act
Now! Become A Supporter of the Jamaica Pond Project! Make your tax deductible contribution online with the secure
server PayPal: Mailing Donation Form and
Additional Details HERE 36 Perkins St., PO Box 300040 A
program of Community Service Care, Inc. a non-profit, tax exempt
organization
Performance
at Maryland Humanities Council "Chautauqua" in July 2010 "Beyond
Boundaries" by Gerry Wright as Frederick Law Olmsted at Germantown
Campus of Montgomery College Video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r97ljW26EtQ
Class Room:
Education
Projects
The quarantine order means that
certain products will be prohibited from moving outside the regulated
area, including all hardwood firewood (any piece of wood smaller than
48 inches), all ash nursery stock, and any ash lumber that has not been
treated. Proper wood treatments include the removal of the bark plus an
additional half an inch of wood, dry kiln sterilization, or
fumigation/heat treatments.
Ash trees also remain one of the 13
regulated host trees for the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB). The 110
square mile ALB regulated area in Worcester County restricts the
movement beyond the regulated boundaries of ash along with any other
ALB host tree. The ALB regulated area includes Worcester, Shrewsbury,
West Boylston, Boylston, and parts of Holden and Auburn.
The full press release can be found at http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/news/2014/2014-11-12pr.pdf
Also, please note that Connecticut
is also making plans to extend their Emerald Ash Borer quarantine
statewide (http://1.usa.gov/1vkKCQy)
----------
Fact Sheet Identification page:
http://massnrc.org/pests/pestFAQsheets/emeraldashborer.html
To report a possible sighting of Emerald Ash Borer or EAB tree damage, visit http://massnrc.org/pests/eabreport.htm
To keep up with all the latest
Massachusetts pest news, visit our website at http://massnrc.org/pests
or follow us on Twitter @MassPests
States to have an ALB infestation eradicated. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/news/2014/2014-5-12pr.pdf
http://www.massnrc.org/pests/alb/albmedia.htm#photos
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/asian_lhb/index.shtml
Article in Jamaica Plain
Gazette by Sandra Storey
The blues and purples we see in nature are most often
refracted light
from tiny scales that act as prisms. The Ebony Jewelwing
Damselfly, Red Spotted Purple Admiral Butterfly and Dogbane Beetle
shown above all change colors when viewed from different angles.
The feathers of the Indigo Bunting, Tree Swallow and Wood Ducks (Photo above) refract the
sunlight for their blue and purple hues and will appear black on
cloudy days. For details of this dynamic color process read
Iridescence in Lepidoptera: hhttps://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2007.2258
Or read Animals Speak Color in Harvard Magazine http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/11/animals-speak-color
Indigo Buntings + Cedar Waxwings + Wood Duck
To learn more about why Indigo Buntings are
seen as a blue color and how it migrates at night using the stars plus
the unique social behavior of Cedar Waxwings and the recovery
of
Wood Duck populations after nearly being hunted to extinction click on
the photographs!
Jamaica Pond's Albino Gray Squirrel
A
Monarch Butterfly symbolic migration program
linking
art, environment, and communities.
Program details HERE
Emerald
Necklace Wildflowers:
We hope
to follow up this test with an on-going volunteer monitoring program of
the entire Emerald Necklace watershed. Contact us if you can
help. Below is map of shore sample sites for tests conducted
in
August and September.
American-Russian
Forestry Association, a program of the New
Horizon Project, in collaboration with the New England Governors
Confrence and Institutions in the Tomsk Region of Siberia, Russia.
Contact: Gerry Wright, Executive Vice-President, 238 Main Street, Suite
401, Kendall Square Station, Cambridge, MA 02142-0003 Telephone
617-524-7070 Email gwright@new-horizons-project.org Web: http://www.new-horizon-project.org
Join the Emerald
Necklace Bird Club and explore this landscape and natural wonder each
season -- spring, summer, fall and winter. Add bird sightings to both
the Emerald Necklace Bird Club master list and your own life list.
Support the conservation of natural habitat and become a steward of the
earth. The Emerald Necklace is the urban oasis for much of the natural
world in Boston. Both migrating and long-term resident birds find the
Olmsted Parks a haven. Frequent visits will slowly reveal a landscape
full of life and wonder from the soaring flight of
a Red-Tailed Hawk to the statute-still Great Blue Heron to the
busy Massachusetts state bird --the Black Capped Chickadee.
Jamaica Pond Lantern Parade
5:30 PM, Free
Pond Street and the Jamaicaway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
http://www.,SpontaneousCelebrations.org
Thanks!
Due to vocal public support, private
fundraising and successful negotiations with the Park Commissioner
over staffing issues the mounted unit was saved in 2009. Ongoing
lack of
funds for the Boston Park Department, which is less then one percent of
the city budget for one of the largest city park systems in the
country, will likely mean this issue will be repeated in future years.
Sign the On-Line Petition
Details HERE
Note: As expected the issue resurfaced in 2010 inspite of the private
funding. The horse unit faced elimination on June 30, 2010.
An extension to October was announced in July 9, 2010 Jamaica Plain
Gazette article (http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/node/4236).
The Friends of the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit non profit was
formed in 2010 to raise on-going private funds to save the
horses. Please join their efforts to save the Boston Park Rangers
Mounted Unit. Learn about the Friends of the Boston Park Rangers Mounted Unit, the rangers, the horses, and how you can help at
http://savebostonshorses.org/
Help preserve and protect Jamaica Pond’s Watershed for not only our
immediate enjoyment, but for future generations. The park is used by
thousands of people to revitalize their physical, mental and spiritual
health. It is where Queen Ann’s Lace and Chicory wild flowers,
Monarch and Swallowtail butterflies, Black Capped Chickadee and Great
Blue Heron birds and all the wonders of nature gives us reverence of
our place on this planet earth. Eternal vigilance and advocacy
will be required to save the pond’s watershed - Hellenic Hill from
future development and Jamaica Pond from future algae
contamination. Your support is vital for us to succeed in these
endeavors.
Frederick Law Olmsted aka Gerry Wright at
Yosemite National Park
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0030
Gerry Wright, Founder and President
Telephone: 617-524-7070
Email: FrederickLawOlmsted@yahoo.com
TTY/MA
RELAY 800-439-2370
www.FriendsOfJamaicaPond.org
