Charlie Edwards
URI Internship Year:
2025
Graduation Year:
2026
Degree:
BS
Charlie is from San Francisco, California, and is majoring in environmental studies with a concentration on urban environments. He is interested in improving urban environmental health and climate resilience, especially by using green infrastructure, which has drawn him to working with URI. He has worked with URI since last fall as a GreenSkills intern and is excited to transition to working with the GreenSpace program and explore more of New Haven this summer.
Group
Greenspace Log
| Date | Category | Photos | Group | Summary | |
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08/02/2025 |
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To wrap up our work this summer, we continued to mulch the tree rings around the park and moved on to taking care of the street trees surrounding the park. It has been a fantastic summer working in Monitor Square! |
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08/01/2025 |
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In our final week of the summer we finished work on the caterpillar garden by completing the brick border, adding stone dust, and placing the stone that will make its head. The finishing touches will be painted by kids in the neighborhood soon! |
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07/31/2025 |
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We wrapped up the summer season by adding mulch to each of our tree pits and watering everything thoroughly. It has been a fantastic summer at the Mill River Trail keeping it clean, managing invasive species, and planting new trees! |
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07/31/2025 |
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To wrap up our work this summer, we focused on watering all three of the gardens that this group has worked on this summer. The group has planted new beds at Front and Chatham and expanded a mini agastache meadow in their urban oasis, it's been a very successful season! |
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07/29/2025 |
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For our final workday of the summer we took it easy in the heat and focused on watering everything we planted this summer and the young trees planted in recent years. This group will continue going strong year-round, so be on the lookout for more volunteering events! |
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07/29/2025 |
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For our last workday of the summer, we did a mix of planting and painting. We began by removing dead plants and transplanting struggling flowers to give them more sun, and in their place we planted 4 new liriopes. It has been a pleasure working with this group this summer! |
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07/29/2025 |
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The summer has flown by and we reached our final workday of the summer. We began by planting 4 coneflowers in the front of the garden before continuing work on the path, watering the plants, and picking up trash. Lastly, we ended the day cooling off with popsicles. |
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07/26/2025 |
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We spent Saturday morning continuing to care for the tree rings around the park by weeding, mulcing, and watering. |
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07/25/2025 |
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After planting last week, we moved on to adding a brick border to the garden. It's starting to take shape! |
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07/24/2025 |
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Following last week's planting, we planted a pin oak and a witch hazel by building out spaces along the river bank and adding soil. As our young trees grow, their roots will reduce erosion and stabilize the riverbank! |
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07/24/2025 |
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We started at the Front and Chatham garden bed adding new coreopsis to fill in space on the sunnier side. We then moved on to watering the butterfly garden and the oasis, the new agastaches planted by Common Grounds look great! |
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07/22/2025 |
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We began this week's workday by planting 3 new American Holly shrubs before beginning the process of mulching the garden beds around the site. We were very kindly joined by 3 volunteers from Believe in Me! |
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07/22/2025 |
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We planted a male winterberry at the MidBridge garden to complete planting for the summer, while other members of the group cleared knotweed and weeded at the Gazebo Garden. |
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07/22/2025 |
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In addition to the regular watering and weeding, we continued painting the furniture and adding a new stain to the picnic tables to seal weatherproof the wood. |
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07/19/2025 |
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We began this workday at the Chatham and Front Street garden weeding the new bed planted earlier this summer. Then we moved down to the Butterfly Garden to plant 3 new sedums to fill in remaining gaps in the bed. |
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07/19/2025 |
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The group continued maintenance work, finishing up mulching the corner garden bed and beginning the process of weeding and mulching around the park's many trees. |
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07/18/2025 |
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We had a big workday this week at Kensington Playground! The group planted 12 new perennials in the caterpillar garden, completing the planting for the new garden bed. |
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07/17/2025 |
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With the help of the Common Ground High School crew, we planted 3 new trees along the bank of the Mill River! |
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07/15/2025 |
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We spent this week’s workday adding new half-logs to the edge of the garden beds as well as regular maintenance like weeding, watering, and picking up trash. |
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07/15/2025 |
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We planted a new Yucca along Stanley Street to fill in the final gap of that garden bed. The group also cleared knotweed along "Frank's Trail" along the river. |
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07/15/2025 |
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This week the group started painting the bench, grill, tables, and planters to help weatherproof the site and keep it looking good for years to come! |
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07/12/2025 |
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Robin and I spent the morning working on maintenance, particularly picking up the remnants of fireworks from the 4th of July. Once we finished cleaning up, we got back to work weeding and mulching the garden beds and watering everything well. |
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07/11/2025 |
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Work has begun on the new Caterpillar Garden! We dug out the new garden bed and planted 6 new coreopsis. |
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07/10/2025 |
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We returned to the section of trail near Grand Paint to pick up trash, remove invasives, and water plantings from recent years. |
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07/10/2025 |
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The butterfly garden has been looking dry with the heat so we mulched and watered the bed. |
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07/08/2025 |
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This week the group showed their commitment to stewardship weeding in the Gazebo Garden, clearing invasive species, and watering the many trees that have been planted in recent years. |
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07/08/2025 |
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Several kids from the neighborhood were ready to help out this week at the Shelton Avenue GreenSpace as we planted 4 new black eyed susans! The group also watered, weeded, and picked up trash as part of their ongoing stewardship efforts. |
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07/08/2025 |
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The heat did not slow down this group's commitment to maintaining the Orchard Street GreenSpace! They watered the area and weeded in the back of the lot where knotweed has been trying to come back. |
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06/28/2025 |
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This week we focused on watering, picking up trash, and began mulching the corner garden bed. We were happy to see pollinators are already flocking to our new agastaches! |
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06/28/2025 |
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We planted seven more perennials at the garden on the corner of Front and Chatham Street, this time on the sunny stretch bordering the street. We also added half logs to create a border around the newly planted beds and the garden is coming together! The group moved our meeting time to Saturday to accomodate for group members unavailable on Thursdays and were joined by two mor volunteers! |
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06/27/2025 |
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The splash pad has been turned back on in Kensington Playground! This meant the group was able to water the very thirsty plants throughout the park following the heatwave as well as resetting the bricks in their Butterfly Garden. |
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06/26/2025 |
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We had our first workday of the summer at the Exchange Street section of the trail. There was a lot of trash to be removed and it was looking overwhelmed with mugwort but the group made lots of progress on both issues and it's looking much better! |
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06/24/2025 |
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Despite the heatwave, this dedicated group came out to the Orchard Street GreenSpace during the peak afternoon sun. They continued their stewardship of the space by watering and pruning in addition to adding a new hydrangea in the back of the lot! |
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06/24/2025 |
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It was a scorching start to the day in the park, despite the heat we planted two new winterberries at the MidBridge garden! They will soon be joined by a third to wrap up our planting work at the MidBridge garden for the summer. |
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06/24/2025 |
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The group pushed their workday to 7 pm to avoid the worst of the heat and it paid off, the GreenSpace was busy with activity. We watered, weeded, expanded the path, and planted 2 new azaleas! |
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06/21/2025 |
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We had a new volunteer this week! The group planted 3 new agastaches to fill in the final gaps of the statue garden. Also, with a heat wave approaching we made sure to thoroughly water the entire site. |
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06/20/2025 |
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With construction work going on throughout the park we focused on stewarding the butterfly garden that the group added last summer. We weeded then mulched the area, next week we will finish this work by resetting the bricks that were displaced by construction on the sidewalk. |
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06/19/2025 |
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Another great day working at the garden on the corner of Front & Chatham. We planted new coral bells, hostas, and hakone grass in the main bed and a new one in the shade of one of the large street trees. Next week we’ll keep working in this space adding even more perennials and adding some finishing touches! |
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06/19/2025 |
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We spent our day at District focusing on removing knotweed. |
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06/17/2025 |
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The weather reduced the crowd to a smaller, but very dedicated group, who continued weeding and building the path through the garden. We discussed plant options for next week, and will likely be adding two new azaleas next Tuesday! |
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06/17/2025 |
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This was our final maintenance workday to prepare for planting more in the back of the lot. We cleared out large piles of invasive plants and pruned some of the trees in the garden. We decided that next week we will plant new hydrangeas in the back of the lot, inspired by the current hydrangeas that are in full bloom! |
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06/17/2025 |
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We had another rainy workday, but an intrepid group still gathered at the Ranger station to keep working on maintaining the park. Frank and Colette kept working to clear the berm trail. The rest of us went to the MidBridge garden where we saw that work has begun on the new bridge! We mulched the areas where we had cleared knotweed and continued clearing invasives from the area. |
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06/13/2025 |
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We had planned to continue working on maintenance in the back of the park, but were very excited to find that work has begun on the new playground! So, we instead focused our efforts on making a plan for the new caterpillar garden, laying out plans in the grass and discussing what the group would be excited to see. With work beginning on the new playground, it's an exciting time in Kensington Playground! |
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06/12/2025 |
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For our second meeting, we focused on the southern section of the trail picking up a lot of trash and clearing out invasives along the entire stretch. While invasive plants are a persistent issue, the stretch of trail that was planted as an Urban Oasis is looking fantastic with all sorts of plants in full bloom! |
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06/12/2025 |
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Today was a very productive day at the garden on the corner of Chatham and Front Street. The group started by removing a lot of knotweed that was crowding the base of one of the street trees. Next, we removed fallen branches and suckers from one of the trees to clear the space up. We ended the day by adding soil and compost to expand the garden bed and planting four new coral bells! |
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06/10/2025 |
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The group continued their stewardship from the week before; Katie, Helen, and Eva focused on primarily clearing out weeds from the gravel space. Meanwhile, Paul and I continued fixing the alignment on the gate. Once this prep and maintenance work is finished, we’ll move on to planting more in the back of the lot. The space looks great already! |
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06/10/2025 |
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It was a busy and productive workday at Shelton Ave, we focused mostly on building the path with the delivery of a new set of pavers and removing weeds from the garden. The core group members were out as usual, and we were excited to be joined by Tyler who saw us working while he walked by. Spirits were high as Steve and Emily ordered pizza for the group and Nari kept everyone entertained while she looked for worms. |
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06/10/2025 |
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Despite the rain, a dedicated group still made it out to the park to get to work clearing knotweed and working at the MidBridge and Gazebo gardens. At the MidBridge garden we planted a new mountain laurel next to two which are in full bloom! In the coming weeks, our work will continue planting at the MidBridge and Gazebo gardens (as well as the clearing the seemingly endless knotweed). |
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06/07/2025 |
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After receiving a delivery of mulch on Friday, we got to work picking up trash in and around the square. Then the group spent time clearing the last of the weeds and adding mulch to the center garden around the statue. We’re planning to add 3 new agastaches to fill in the last gaps of the garden, but it’s already looking fantastic! |
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06/06/2025 |
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Jane, Anh, Josh and I continued weeding the back area, following up on the work that Hopkins students helped with the week before. The group continued their stewardship of the plants by watering and pruning. We also spent a good amount of time picking up trash, especially glass, to make the park more appealing and welcoming. Lastly, we discussed ideas for the new Caterpillar Garden the group is hoping to create this summer. |
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06/05/2025 |
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We spent our first work day of the summer planning our goals before working on clearing knotweed along the bank. We focused especially on finding the oak saplings that have been planted along the river bank and keeping their space clear of knotweed. Then we ended the work day watering the trees they planted in recent years, all of which are looking great! |
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06/05/2025 |
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Christel and I met to begin the work of clearing up the Urban Oasis area. We moved down branches and opened up the path through the space. Then we took on the swathes of mugwort and other invasive crowding the area, but past years plantings have done a great job making our lives easier! Next week we will turn our focus to the garden on the corner of Front and Chatham to continue beautifying that space. |
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06/03/2025 |
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Today we focused on weeding and removing invasives. Katie and Paul Hawkins worked in the front cleaning up the gravel area, while Helen and Eva Green made a big dent clearing out knotweed and bamboo in the back. |
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06/03/2025 |
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Today, we made progress clearing knotweed and other weeds from the MidBridge garden, the berm trail, and the group planted new perennials at the Gazebo garden. We added mulch to one of the MidBridge beds around the mountain laurels which are just starting to bloom. We’re hoping to continue planting more in the MidBridge and Gazebo gardens. |
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05/27/2025 |
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I joined the group to briefly plan goals for the summer before they set out to continue their work stewarding the 125 acre park. They have already made good progress taking out weeds in the gazebo garden and in the mid-bridge garden. Once that work is finished, they’re hoping to plant native perennials to compete with the weeds. |
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05/27/2025 |
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I met with Christel, Pat, and Tom to tour the space and plan for the summer. The group is hoping to continue their hard work in the urban oasis space along with removing tree of heaven from the sea wall and improving a small garden at the intersection of Front and Chatham. |
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05/27/2025 |
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I met with the group to discuss goals for the summer such as clearing out weeds, repainting their perennial planters, and adding more flowers to the space. They recently cleaned the space up so it is already looking great! |
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05/24/2025 |
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I met with John and Robin who have stewarded this space for over 15 years. This space is well-established and taken care of so the main goals in the short term are tackling weeds and adding mulch on the existing trees and flower beds. The group is looking into adding a new pollinator garden to add more visual interest and environmental benefits to the space. |
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05/24/2025 |
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I met with leaders Emily Sigman and Steve Winter and was quickly joined by almost a dozen other community members who care about this lively green space in Newhallville. We talked about their main goals of finishing up the path they’ve been building on the right side of the space and adding more evergreens and flowers to bring even more color to the garden. This space is clearly beloved by the community and will host workdays on Tuesday evenings this summer. After I left, the group made great progress on building the garden path. |
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05/23/2025 |
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I met with Jane and Olivia to walk through the playground and look at the progress they’ve made in the last couple of years. We discussed goals and issues the group would like to address in the coming months such as stewarding the nature area in the back of the space and creating a new “Caterpillar Garden” to complement the Butterfly Garden the group created already. |
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06/27/2024 |
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06/27/2024 |
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