December 7, 2020
Dear Friends,
Last week, Friends of Stewart Park received a Susan Blumenthal Pride of Ownership Award from the Rotary Club and City of Ithaca for the Stewart Park Inclusive Playground.
Thank you for helping to make this playground a reality. FSP shares award committee's belief that beautiful, high-quality building and landscape projects matter, and we are thankful for the recognition. We believe our partnership with Wharton Studio Museum and the City of Ithaca, as well as with so many of you who support the work we do to enhance Stewart Park and the Waterfront Trail, has many tangible benefits for our community and all who live here.
I’m pleased the award has now been named in honor of Susan Blumenthal who created the Pride of Ownership Awards with the first ones presented in 1998. A long-time Common Council member, Susan has a passion for planning and design and was instrumental in the City's financial support of a 2000 Cayuga Waterfront Trail Feasibility Study, which included preparation of a NYS grant application for the first phase of the project in Cass Park in 2003. Early in the trail design process, Susan was very involved in the development and review of designs for benches, bike racks, engraved stepping stones, signage and the trail route. So please thank Susan on your next walk or bike ride along Ithaca's beautiful waterfront.
Be safe and stay active as the winter solstice approaches.
Rick
Support Friends of Stewart Park
PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP AWARD
Thank you to the City of Ithaca, the Rotary Club of Ithaca and the Pride of Ownership Committee for this award.
Friends of Stewart Park would like to thank the design team, project partners, all the staff and build volunteers, New York State, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, the Park Foundation and hundreds of other large and small donors. This Susan Blumenthal Pride of Ownership Award means a lot.
This playground is amazing....
it's very well planned...
and very, very fun.
-Anonymous Park Visitor, August 28, 2020
Congratulations to all the other winners! We are especially proud to mention the Waterfront Trail at Allan H. Treman State Park, given awarded to New York State Parks - Region 4, Fred Bonn regional director. Peter Fry was the Landscape Architect for this trail, which is a segment of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail.
GIVING TUESDAY THANK YOU
You embraced the spirit of Giving Tuesday and raised over $3,000 for Stewart Park revitalization! Thanks to this generosity, FSP can continue to enhance the award winning playground with sandplay kits, pollinator plants, refurbished benches, accessible pathways and picnic tables. Your generosity inspired and empowers FSP to transform Stewart Park, one project at a time, into a more inviting and beloved lakefront destination. Thank you!
MORE PARK & TRAIL NEWS
MEMORIAL
Honoring Playground Champion Elayne Nicholas in the Park
Elayne Nicholas, the heart and soul of FSP's Playground Campaign, passed away in November. Elayne united us all behind a vision for a beautiful and accessible playground in Stewart Park where ALL children could play side by side.
Near the playground, Elayne's Lending Library will be dedicated in her memory, honoring her passion for children and books, and her insatiable love of learning. If you'd like to make a gift in honor of Elayne Nicholas, you can do so here.
SAFETY
New signs on the Trail
With COVID cases are rising, FSP has added new safety signage along the Waterfront Trail -- visual reminders on how to keep yourself and others safe while enjoying our parks and trails. Wearing a mask and maintaining your distance is the least we can do make this special place safe and comfortable to all, including the most vulnerable in our community.
CULTURE AND ARTS
WSM presents new film series
Wharton Studio Museum, with the Finger Lakes Film Trail is proud to present Race Films/Race Matters: Starting Conversations About Race in America, an upcoming online series featuring five important race films; corresponding video presentations about each film by scholars from Cornell University, Ithaca College, University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, the George Eastman Museum, and Ithaca High School; and other resource materials, with the aim of encouraging necessary conversations about race, racial tension and race discrimination in America today.
Visit FLFT on Facebook or at whartonstudiomuseum.org for more information.
CAYUGA WATERFRONT TRAIL
FSP launches new Trail website
FSP has launched the new Cayuga Waterfront Trail website! Found at www.cayugawaterfronttrail.net and on the FSP site at www.friendsofstewartpark.org, the new Trail site is full of beautiful pictures, updated maps, and useful information. We will continue to develop the new site over the next few months, and welcome your feedback.
FSP is pleased to work with the City of Ithaca to help support and enhance the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, which was initially developed through an initiative of the Chamber of Commerce. If you have come across places on the Trail that could use a little TLC, or if you'd like to volunteer to help keep our Trail clean and beautiful, email Rick!
COLLECTING MEMORIES
Send FSP your Stewart Park Pics
Do you have pictures of your family at Stewart Park over the years? Help FSP celebrate the park's 100th anniversary by sharing them with us! We'd especially love to find more pictures from 1921-1980.
Send to memories@friendsofstewartpark.org
Thanks!
