Locals who love the lay of the land around Brookdale Park met recently, to kick off The Brookdale Conservancy. Mary Shaugnessy reports:
"I've been waiting for this to happen for 50 years," said one of the first to come to the inaugural meeting of the budding Brookdale Park Conservancy, attended by over 30 local residents from Bloomfield and Montclair. The meeting was held at the Brookdale Reformed Church on Bellevue Ave. in Bloomfield, last Monday. Those at the meeting felt that Brookdale Park is a community treasure that needs a lot of thoughtful attention and care. It has a big community. Most of those at the meeting live on the streets next to the park. Thousands more come to the park from miles around. Many moved here because they wanted to live next to the park.
The Conservancy is an organization of people who want to take responsibility for protecting and nourishing the park.
To help them make wise plans and decisions they also intend to seek the advice of experts in areas such as forestry, gardening, hydrology, and grant-preparation. They plan to raise substantial funds, by accepting tax-deductible contributions and seeking public and private grants, to meet the needs of the park. Trees were a major concern at the meeting, including replacement of trees lost in severe storms, proper pruning and care of trees, addressing the white-pine blight that is killing some of the most beautiful trees. Other concerns raised at the meeting included pedestrian safely when using and crossing park roads, the need for more benches, and for shade in the children's playground. The next meeting of the Conservancy, to be held at the Brookdale Reform Church in January, will focus on adopting a formal mission statement, and setting up its organizational structure.
For more information, write to this address: brookdalepark@comcast.net
--Photo by Peter J. Gargiulo
Absolutely wonderful...finally.