Sweetening the end of summer with free carousel rides, movies, sponsorship opportunities, and more!

Sweetening the end of summer with free carousel rides, movies, sponsorship opportunities, and more!

Friends of Stewart Park is enhancing Stewart Park to make it as comfortable, inviting and accessible as possible. Visit our website to learn more about furnishing sponsorship options. Every sponsored furnishing includes a custom dedication!


All furnishing are high quality with sustainability in mind. Playground and Splash Pad seating from Loll is made from recycled milk jugs!

Join Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum for our 9th annual Party for the Park fundraiser!


We’re celebrating our current Roaring 20s by bringing the party back to the Roaring 1920s when silent movies were all the cat’s meow, jazz was playing in secret clubs downtown, and Ithacans were gathering in their new public lakeside park.


Come as you are, or if you’d like, wear a sparkly headband, flapper dress, or Great Gatsby inspired suit! We just want you there! This year’s party will include live jazz, a raffle, and local wine, beer and cider. Van Nobel Farm will cater a full farm-to-table meal including appetizer and dessert.

Thank you to the Ithaca Public Education Initiative for sponsoring the Stewart Park Carousel this Friday, August 23 and Saturday 24! Come out for free rides and check also out all the activities they have planned!

Sadly, Friends of Stewart Park has been made aware of recent racist incidents in Stewart Park. Many of you may have read articles about this in the Ithaca Voice.


Friends of Stewart Park urges all who visit the park to treat others with kindness and respect.


Last week, FSP met with Rev. Peaches Gillette and also attended the workshop she organized to form All Ears & All Eyes on Racism, a newly-created volunteer group working to fight racism in the community. If you’d like to learn more on how you can get involved, you can email aeerforjustice@gmail.com.

There’s just two more weeks of Movies in the Park! Head down to the park this Friday, August 23rd, for Monsters Inc.

From Wharton Studio Museum, our partner in park revitalization…


Mark your calendars for The Mark of Zorro (1920), and our 14th annual Silent Movie Under the Stars on Saturday, August 24th at sundown! Please note a new location for the outdoor screening — Robert H. Treman State Park, Upper Entrance.*


Live original music by Cloud Chamber Orchestra with special guest Damian Dodge. Presenting Sponsor for Silent Movie Under the Stars is M&T Bank. New York State Parks is our producing partner and 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the New York State Park’s system! Join us on Saturday, August 24th!


*The first Silent Movie Under the Stars took place at this location in 2011!

We invite you to check out this video, filled with magical moments on the Waterfront Trail and in Stewart Park captured by Frank Muller, Friends of Stewart Park's landscape gardener, and nature photographer.

Labor Day weekend will be a little more fun with some free carousel rides, in honor of Alison and Ludo’s wedding anniversary.

Splash Pad, furnishings, free carousel, movies in the park and much more!

Splash Pad, furnishings, free carousel, movies in the park and much more!

It was a beautiful warm sunny day in Stewart Park on July 3rd for FSP's ribbon cutting and official opening of the new Splash Pad and Seasonal Bathroom Building in Stewart Park. Thank you to our ribbon cutting speakers and attendees. It was heartwarming to have so many people attend, though it was the excitement of all the kids waiting for the splash pad to turn on -- and their happiness when it finally did --that truly marked the day.


The Splash Pad has been hopping since July 3 and has been a terrific boon in helping keep so many families cool amidst these record high temperatures. Thank you to everyone who made this wonderful project a reality. Thank you to Edger Enterprises and Parkitects for their work building the splash pad and bathroom building!


The Stewart Park Splash Pad was made possible by an Environmental Protection Fund grant administered by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; and support from New York State through Assemblymember Anna Kelles; Tompkins County Tourism Program; the City of Ithaca, and private donations.


Thank you to all who supported this project!

FINISH IT - FURNISH IT!

Friends of Stewart Park is enhancing Stewart Park and the Cayuga Waterfront Trail with the goal of making them as inviting and accessible as possible. With Splash Pad construction complete, it’s now time to finish it - by furnishing it! Available furnishings include benches, grills, accessible picnic tables, and shade sails. Your sponsorship allows us to purchase and install a variety of attractive and comfortable furnishings! All furnishing prices include and installation, and your park or trail furnishing can feature a plaque with a custom dedication. Plus, your donation is tax deductible!

Thanks to the team at Carol Bushberg Real Estate for Sponsoring a Free Carousel Day Sunday, July 21! Now a part of Warren Real Estate, Carol and her team have been helping clients navigate every turn in the local real estate market for 15 years!

Join Friends of Stewart Park, Wharton Studio Museum & Historic Ithaca for a walking tour of historic Stewart Park! Discover the park's fascinating history and get an inside look at its current revitalization. Wear your most comfortable walking shoes and bring a water bottle. The event is free, but registration is required. Donations are always welcome!

When: July 27, 2024 at 10:00 am - 11:15 am

Where: Stewart Park: Meet at the Trailhead East of the Picnic Pavilion

Cost: Free

REGISTER HERE

Tompkins Chamber has announced their 2024 summer Movies in the Park lineup! Visit their Facebook Page to learn more.

Thank you to ten-year-old Phoebe Lallas and her family for sending us her poems about Stewart Park. Phoebe and her family are frequent visitors to the park. Here’s the first of several poems we will feature:

MORE PARK AND TRAIL NEWS

Volunteer Highlight

You can help in the park like Code Red Robotics.
Learn more >>

Project Highlight

aquatix-splashpad-7.jpg

We built a new Splash Pad!
Learn more >>

Sponsor the Carousel

You can provide free summer carousel rides! Learn more >>