Thank you for making 2021 an incredible centennial for Stewart Park. You celebrated with FSP throughout the year, and we are thankful for all the ways you showed up to demonstrate your love for our favorite lakeside park.
We hope these twenty-one memories from the park and the Cayuga Waterfront Trail encapsulate the ups and downs of this strange and wonderful year. We look forward to continuing our mission of park revitalization in 2022 and beyond.
This week is the last opportunity to make a 2021 charitable gift. Your gift allows FSP to continue to enhance Stewart Park and the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. You can donate online, via Venmo (@FriendsofStewartPark), return the FSP mailing you may have received, or mail a check to: FSP, 120 Brindley Street, Suite 4, Ithaca 14850. If you’d like to make a gift of stock to FSP, please call our office at 607-319-4766.
Again, thank you for all you do for FSP and Stewart Park!
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PARK & TRAIL MAINTENANCE MATTERS
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Friends of Stewart Park would like to thank Frank Muller (left) and Luke Sjolund for their excellent gardening work in Stewart Park and along the Waterfront Trail this summer. As you all know, FSP works with volunteers and the City of Ithaca to maintain trailheads, overlooks and gardens along our beautiful waterfront, and we could not have done it without Frank and Luke’s help.
Frank, inspired by his parents, has been gardening since he was old enough to walk.
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In his own words, "As a lover of the outdoors, caring for the gardens along the Cayuga Waterfront Trail this year has been a joy.” This December Frank planted spring flowering bulbs (generously donated by Sue and Dave Strabo, Owners of Longfield Gardens) all along the Waterfront Trail in Stewart Park. When not taking care of the trail, Frank enjoys hiking, camping, and creating nature-inspired art through photography and other art-media techniques.
Luke is a Student Services Advisor at TST BOCES who also moonlights as a Downtown Ithaca Alliance Ambassador, tending to the lovely plantings on the Ithaca Commons.
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1. FSP invited the everyone to celebrate Stewart Park's centennial as a public park all year long. Thank you to the Ithaca Times, Tompkins County Weekly, Ithaca Voice and 14850.com for highlighting the centennial and events.
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2. FSP's Centennial Series of free virtual programs proved very popular. The series kicked off with Birds of Stewart Park with Dr. Stephen Kress, The Many Lives of Stewart Park: Past and Present, and The Boys and Girls in the Boat: Ithaca's Amazing History of Competitive Rowing and continued through fall Andy Zepp from Finger Lakes Land Trust discussing lake health and local historian Corey Earle sharing info about Patrick Conway and his Famous Ithaca Band. You can still see all the Zoom presentations on our YouTube page.
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3. We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of volunteer help this year - both in the park and on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail! FSP hosted 5 large volunteer events plus several small ones, with over 200 folks helping in 2021. If you'd like to be the first to know about volunteer events, join our volunteer list here.
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4. Friends of Stewart Park sponsored a free carousel day on June 5th, giving out 2,237 rides that day. But the fun didn't stop there! FSP coordinated sponsors for nine free carousel days across the summer, resulting in over 20,000 free rides on the historic merry-go-round, which turned 70 this year!
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5. Many volunteers came out to clean buildings, paint benches and paint and build accessible picnic tables during our "Spruce Up Stewart Park" event. Here members and leaders of Girl Scout troop 40169 clean windows and ceilings on the Picnic Pavilion veranda.
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6. The ribbon was cut to Stewart Park's first ever all-season accessible bathrooms on June 17th. Thanks to the teams at McPherson Builders and Taitem Engineering, as well as the City of Ithaca, for their great work. These bathrooms are the exciting first step toward the first step in developing the Wharton Studio Park Center. Once complete, the WSPC will feature exhibit space, a café and lakefront terrace, and small shop/office.
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7. An exhibit on Stewart Park was on display in the Atrium Tower in downtown’s Tompkins Center for History and Culture all summer. The exhibit, made possible by Tompkins Trust Company, celebrates the history of the park through images, and features numerous revitalization projects of the last ten years and those yet to come.
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8. Devastating storms blew through the Ithaca Waterfront on Monday, June 21 and again on Monday, June 28, causing an incredible amount of tree damage in Stewart Park, along the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, and in Newman Municipal Golf Course. Thankfully no one was injured. It would take the park over three weeks to reopen to the public.
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9. After the storms, we were floored by the outpouring of support from the community. With clearance from the City, more than 100 volunteers came to help on Friday, June 25th, with still more helping over the following week.
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10. On June 28th Elayne's Lending Library was opened. Named for Elayne Nicholas, champion of the Stewart Park Inclusive Playground as well as the TCPL, the library can be found in the information kiosk near the playground.
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11. Not park closure nor rain would stop us from celebrating Stewart Park's 100th birthday as a public park! While FSP had initially planned to celebrate on July 4th --the actual 100th anniversary of the park's opening-- the park was still closed due that day to storm damage. Thankfully, the party was able to go one the next weekend, and despite the rain, we celebrated the centennial with cupcakes, free carousel rides, incredible music from Cayuga Chamber Orchestra's brass quintet and London McDaniel, and memory sharing with Story House Ithaca (password: StewartParkStories).
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13. The Ithaca Concert Band signed on to celebrate the centennial by playing preshow music for the Chamber's Movies in the Park. Video here.
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14. Live theatre was back in the park with a new production re-interpreting the classic Shakespeare play from a modern perspective. A Midsummer Night's Musicale, presented by The Merry Wanderers, with book by Briel Felton, music by John Bunge and choreography by Samantha Johnson, was a treat for all who attended. You can see a video of the performance here.
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15. Movies in the Park, presented by the Tompkins Chamber, made for an excellent way to cap off a summer full of ups and downs.
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16. We celebrated The Stewart Park Carousel's 70 years in the park with an extended season, the first under its new permanent cover, and its 5th year with an accessible ramp and chariot.
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17. Party for the Park took place September 18th. The Tea Pavilion proved for a lovely location for this scaled down version of FSP and Wharton Studio Museum's 6th annual fundraiser.
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18. Along with good food, drink, lawn games, music and a raffle, this year's P4P included thoughtful remarks and a special citation in honor of Stewart Park’s centennial as a public park from Assemblymember Anna Kelles and the presentation of the Friends of Stewart Park StewarTship Awards.
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19. On October 21, Historic Ithaca hosted a festive ribbon cutting for the newly- restored Cascadilla Boathouse. The teams at Bero Architecture PLLC, Bouley Associates, Verdigree Collective/Julie Kitson Construction Management, and Trowbridge, Wolf, Michaels Landscape Architects LLP did a fantastic job restoring the exterior of this Ithaca landmark.
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20. Friends of Stewart Park was awarded this year's Community Partner Award from Racker, in recognition of the work FSP has done and continues to do regarding inclusivity and accessibility. You can read more about the many ways FSP works with the City of Ithaca and our community to ensure Stewart Park is welcoming and accessible to all here.
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21. Friends of Stewart Park was awarded a $500,000 grant from New York State's Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) for the Stewart Park Splash Pad and Playground Bathrooms project.
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THANKS TO OUR CENTENNIAL SPONSORS FOR
MAKING THIS YEAR'S FESTIVITIES A REALITY |
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