|  | Spring Activities are just around the Corner |  | Photo by Tracey Lynn Myers | It's been a mild winter on the waterfront, and while we’re still likely to have a snow day, it’s hard to deny that spring is coming our way. Bulbs are poking up from the ground and the sunshine is bringing everyone out to play. Read on to learn about spring updates and events happening with Friends of Stewart Park and our friends along the waterfront! | | FSP’s Rick Manning wins Tompkins Weekly’s first Hometown Heroes Award |  | Rick Manning, co-founder and executive director of Friends of Stewart Park at the Stewart Park playground.
Photo by Jaime Cone Hughes | We are pleased to announce that FSP’s own Rick Manning has been named as the first recipient of Tompkins Weekly’s Hometown Heroes Award, which recognizes Manning for his many contributions and dedication to the Ithaca community.
“He’s a local treasure,” said Robyn Wishna, who nominated Manning for the award.
“He’s not just one-dimensional,” said Wishna, a professional photographer. “He’s contributed to our community in so many different ways. For me, one of the biggest ones was the Waterfront Trail and Stewart Park. They affect thousands and thousands of people and will for generations to come. Me and my friends walk that trail all the time, and it makes the park and waterfront so accessible to everyone. And what they’ve done with the improvements to Stewart Park is so incredible.”
Read the rest of the article by Jaime Cone Hughes in the Tompkins Weekly. | |  | Thank you to everyone who came out to our Wild About the Waterfront fundraiser. You helped raise over $1,700 for the new pollinator garden and area enhancements for the new Splash Pad and Accessible Playground Bathroom! We received the kindest and most enthusiastic feedback about the event and hope to do it again next year!
Thank you also to all who participated: Musicians: Tenzin Chopak & Emmett Scott; Dave Davies & Brian Earle; Benny Bleu; and the Falling Waters Trio (Hope Grietzer, Tom Hodgson & Rick Manning).
Featured photographers: Dede Hatch, Tenzin Chopak, Rachel Hogancamp, Julian Euell, Frank Muller and Dan Segal & The Plantsmen Nursery. Photos provided by the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Wharton Studio Museum, and Friends of Stewart Park.
Community Artists: Kris Altucher, Manuela Amzallag, Muhammad Arif, Tommy Beers, Linda Byard, Paul Dawson, Linda Edsall, Coleen Foley, Sonia Jirka, Tracey Lynn Myers, Bob Riter, and Tonya VanCamp
And thanks to Cinemapolis and to our Event Sponsors The Plantsmen Nursery and Ithaca Native Landscape Symposium | |  | The new accessible bathroom building is progressing quickly by the capable crew of Edger Enterprises and their numerous subcontractors. The building has three bathrooms, one male, one female and one all gender/family bathroom with an adult changing table. Work is now focused on the interior plumbing and electrical work to be followed by sheetrock installation and then lighting and furnishing installation. Exterior siding is scheduled to begin soon and completed by the end of March. In April the existing splash pad will be demolished, followed by the installation of the new splash pad plumbing, fixtures and concrete surfacing.
The project is still on schedule to be completed and opened by the end of June and the July 4th holiday weekend (Stewart Park’s 103rd anniversary). | | | PAYMENT PROCESSING UPDATES Friends of Stewart Park will be doing updates on the backend of its payment processing system. If you have any issues with donation processing in the next couple weeks, contact Tonya to help sort things out.
Photo by Manuela Amzallag |
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| | | SPONSOR THE CAROUSEL Did you know you can provide thousands of free Carousel rides while supporting Friends of Stewart Park with a tax-deductible gift?
As a Carousel Sponsor, your organization or business will be recognized with:
*Your name and/or logo featured on a prominent sign at the Carousel.
*Acknowledgements through social media such as Facebook, Instagram and the FSP newsletter.
*As many as 2,500 smiles daily from children who appreciate your gift!
Click here to learn more! |
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| | UPCOMING PARK AND TRAIL EVENTS | | | BIRDING CLASS Registration is now open for the Cayuga Bird Club’s Spring Ornithology with Steve Kress. With stunning audio, video and photos, topics include bird ID, song, behavior, migration, conservation, attracting birds and more.
For 2024, classes will be held on Tuesday nights, March 26 through May 14, from 7 to 9 pm, at Kendal at Ithaca and simultaneously on Zoom. Busy on that evening? Classes also will be recorded so you can watch (or review) them at your convenience. Learn more and register. |
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| | | SPRING CLEANING Join Friends of Stewart Park for its annual waterfront cleanup, Saturday, April 6 from 10 am to noon!
Together we'll practice good stewardship of our park and Cayuga Lake’s waterfront. Dress for the weather, wear boots, and bring gloves, garbage bags, litter grabbers or anything else that will help. Meet at the Picnic “Large” Pavilion. If the weather is terrible, we’ll reschedule to April 7th.
Thanks to Zero Waste Ithaca for partnering with FSP on this cleanup. |
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| | | POLLINATOR PATHWAY Join FSP and Brandon Hoak, the Native Plant Specialist and Outreach Communicator for the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway. for a virtual Pollinator Pathway presentation Wednesday, April 17 at 7pm.
Brandon will introduce attendees to the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway Project, which aims to connect local gardens, parks, trails and landscapes to improve habitat corridors for pollinators in the county. Stay tuned for details and registration. |
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| | | DAFFODIL DASH RETURNS TO THE CAYUGA WATERFRONT TRAIL
Ithaca Garden Club and Ithaca Children’s Garden Second Annual Daffodil Dash at Ithaca’s Cass Park on April 13, 2024 is now open for the 1-mile fun run/walk and 5-K race! Experience the sights and smells of 130,000 blooming daffodils along the level, accessible course. Sponsors’ generosity allows every dollar raised to transform into more daffodils, planted by the City of Ithaca and Cornell volunteers using unique equipment. To contribute to the fall 2024 daffodil planting, please visit Daff-a-Dazzle. Learn more and register. |
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| | | I LOVE MY PARK DAY
Join FSP Saturday, May 4, from 10AM-noon for I Love My Park Day!
We'll prepare the park for summer by cleaning up garden beds, planting new landscaping, raking the playground, mulching, trimming lakeside vegetation and more. Dress for the weather and bring your gloves, rakes, clippers and other gardening tools.
More info and registration to come! |
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| | | SAVE THE DATES
WATERMUSIC Planned for Sunday, August 4 beginning at 5 PM.
PARTY FOR THE PARK Planned for Saturday, September 21 at 6PM.
STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS! |
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