2008 Report for Saltonstall And Lloyd

Year

2008

Number of volunteers

20

Total volunteer hours

125

Number of events

1

Number of trees planted

1

Enter more details about trees planted

Honeylocust

Number of perennials planted

8

Enter more details about perennials planted

4 liriope, 3 black-eyed susan, 1 Daisy

Yards compost spread

0.50

Yards mulch spread

10.00

Summary

The Saltonstall and Lloyd Community Greenspace Group has been involved in the program for six years. In 2002 community volunteers transformed an abandoned lot into a beautiful urban oasis. This was no small feat in that two homes previously standing on this single lot were demolished and their foundations were simply left buried in the ground. Nevertheless, the group managed to excavate as much of the foundation as possible enabling them to plant several shrubs and perennial gardens around the perimeter of the park, as well as a series of pin oak trees in the center of the park.<br> Last year, the group became an active site after being designated an emeritus site the year before (2006). In 2007, the group planted a total of 13 street trees in addition to maintaining the park itself. This year, the group focused more on community-building and outreach in addition to the maintenance of previous plantings. <br> This past year marked a shift in leadership as well. The group was first started under the leadership of Officer Crisco, a New Haven police officer who moved out of the neighborhood in 2006. This leadership void was quickly filled by Migdalia Castro, and mother and daughter team Elba and Adeli DeArce who live next to the park. Prior to this summer, Migdalia moved to another part of Fair Haven and Adeli was not able to participate as much as she was expecting her second child. Celestino Cordova and Elba DeArce stepped in to lead the group and did an excellent job of reaching out to this nearly exclusively Latino community. They did so by flyering the neighborhood several times and specially inviting neighbors to participate in the program. Additional outreach assistance was provided by the new building manager for the Elderly Building at 25 Saltonstall Avenue, Mr. John Lanagan. The team's outreach efforts were successful in that roughly five new volunteers assisted with maintenance efforts. Two of these new volunteers, Celinda Primera and Maria Quinones, became quite active. Through the dedicated efforts of Celinda, Elba, and Celestino, who weeded and pruned for several Saturdays throughout the summer, the park was once again refreshed and beautified. <br> The biggest accomplishment for this past summer was a barbecue and community celebration held on July 12th. This exciting event drew over 50 people from all over the neighborhood. Residents from the Elderly Building played music and there were volunteers conducting a voter registration drive just outside of the park. Members of the Saltonstall and Lloyd Greenspace group did an incredible job preparing a variety of foods, setting up, hosting members of the community and cleaning up after a wonderful afternoon. <br> The last project for the group was a tree planting in front of Elba's brother's home across the street from her. Members of Elba's family spent roughly 6 hours planting this tree as they discovered concrete buried several inches under the surface. Their efforts paid off as a new honeylocust tree was planted across from the other honeylocust trees planted the year before.<br> Site description:<br> Throughout the history of the program, the group has planted street trees along the entire length of Saltonstall Avenue and most recently along Lloyd Street between Chapel Street and Saltonstall Avenue. These trees, mostly kwanzan cherries, crabapples, and purple-leaf plums, provide a rainbow of color in the springtime. The focal point of this neighborhood is the aforementioned park located on the corner of Saltonstall Avenue and Lloyd Streets. This park features several different types of shrubs of all sizes including hydrangea, purple leaf plum, inkberry, and several varieties of evergreens. There are pin oak trees in the center of the park which provide shade over hand-made slate benches. The corner of the park features a small garden of several varieties of sedum plants which provide an interesting color contrast to the darker greens in the park.

Other activity

COMMUNITY BARBECUE/VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE AT SALTONSTALL/LLOYD PARK