2017 Park Photos

Winter Willow in snowy Spy Pond Park, January 2017 Fire in the sky over Spy Pond from Spy Pond Park Spring at Spy Pond These are a few of the tools we supply for volunteers to use to keep Spy Pond Park looking beautiful Ruth Slotnick and Colin Blair flex their muscles after returning all equipment to the FSPP shed Anthony Vogel,winner of Spy Pond Park and Arlinton Public Art's design contest, applied new colors to the tot lot bench in Spy Pond Park
The artist  attatched a stencil before painting  the animal outlines Then the colors could be applied to the outlines Finally, Anthony Vogel spread a polyurthane finish to protect his art work Adria Arch, Arlington Public Art, and Anthony Vogel were happy that people will enjoy Arlington's first permanent contemporary art work to go through the Parks and Recreation Department approval process Sally Hempstead, Outreach and Communications CoChair, welcomed volunteers and signed them in on Work Days under the Friends of Spy Pond Park canopy Many BU alumni worked at Linwood Beach to remove natural debris at the shoreline
Workers tranferred the natural debris into bags for  the DPW BU volunteers trimmed the grass and dug a trench at the black fence to discourage grass from growing in the planting beds Digging a line of demarkation at the fence was more work required to improve the planting beds BU alumni have accomplished a lot in Spy Pond Park, their chosen site volunteering  for this year's annual BU Global Days of Service in April Grooming the path was the priority for volunteers Maria Velasquez and Galo Lopez  on the August 2017 Work Day Charles DeVirgilio, Zen Ren Chuan martial arts instructor, put in some time pulling invasive plants in the planting beds
Lally Stowell, Beautification Committee, guided these volunteers in grooming the cobblestones framing the path Workers on September 23 spent a lot of time grooming the path, sweeping up sand displaced by rainstorms and distributing it back on the eroded path through the park It was a family affair with Doris Birmingham and her son, Geoff, loading invasive plants into a bag in one of the planting beds in Spy Pond Park Marshall McCloskey and Lally Stowell, Beautification Committee members, stuffed invasive plants into garbage bags for DPW pickup after the August 2017 Work Day Hana Amo selected flower petals and leaves to decorate her nature crown at Tinkergarten's Fun Day activity Colin Blair, Betsy Leondar-Wright (Fun Day Chair), and Lisa Berman (in back) guided children solving puzzles, playing paper games, and engaging in a scavenger hunt after which Dick Norcross awarded them prizes for their participation
There were plenty of materials for making bark boats at the wall at North Beach Elise Gauthier (L) and Lucy Teleen proudly displayed their natural bark boat ready for launching Digging in the sand wasn't part of the prescribed activity at the base of the wheelchair ramp, but this child enjoyed it, nonetheless Eleanor sat patiently as Lisa Reynolds with her painting skills transformed her into a feline beauty Marleigh Axman anticipated the beautiful image that Lisa Reynolds would paint on her cheek Veronica Ellis (l) played with the ducky she was given for drawing a pond scene at a craft table as she and her mom, Erin Dunn, peered over the boat ramp wall
At the Fun Day tot lot bench dedication a young visitor playing nearby responded to President Karen L. Grossman’s request to name the animals outlined in the newly painted design by architect Tony Vogel (behind the bench) Claudia Ravaschiere and Michael Moss' "Flutter", a butterfly public art installation at the Minuteman Trail overpass ,rose above Spy Pond Park Did she catch any of the bubbles she blew with her wand? Aunt Mimi, a guitar duo, played pop, rock, and folk classics to entertain the crowd Ann LeRoyer signed in people waiting patiently, eagerly awaiting the return of the next boat for the tour of Elizabeth Island sponsored by the Arlington Land Trust The Intuition Quartet gave a melodic acapella performance at Fun Day 2017
A park visitor displayed his juggling skills A boy pushed off his bark boat  with hopes it'll stay afloat  on Spy Pond during a long trip  to Eliabeth Island Spy Pond Park was filled with Fun Day participants at the boat ramp and North Beach on Fun Day Joe Burns and the Swing Saw Boys, Ken Karnofsky and Chip Candy, provided lively music on Fun Day 2017 This child enjoyed painting at  Tashi Pique's "Colors of the Earth"booth Ruth Putnam, age 8, balanced on stilts and towered over her mother, Sara Tolley, but did not venture forward onto the boat ramp, too bumpy to navigate
Paloma, Theodore, and Scott McClure's faces poked through the photo board so Mom, Madeline, could capture them in this wildlife scene Arlington/Belmont Crew Team Boys Coach, Cian Noone, ferried people to and from Elizabeth Island on Fun Day 2017 Arlington Land Trust volunteers pulled  the boat onto Elizabeth Island's shore so excited visitors could disembark Richard McElroy (l) and Susan Stamps of the Arlington Land Trust stood poised waiting for the arrival of the next boat to Elizabeth Island carrying visitors from Spy Pond Park Flags designating trees along the SPP shoreline were a result of Phase 2 botanical surveying for the Conservation Commission's Spy Pond Edge Protection and Erosion Control Project that should remain attached through the winter