Friends of West River Peace Garden

[westriverpeacegarden]

May Peace Garden Updates: Special Mother's Day Planting THIS SATURDAY; Weekly Work-Days Resume May 15

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy springtime and remind you about a couple things:

* SPECIAL MOTHER'S DAY PLANTING -- SATURDAY, MAY 9, 11AM Join us this upcoming Saturday, May 9 (rain date: May 17) for the 1st annual Mother's Day Planting at the West River Peace Garden. Flyer is below -- please share if you can!

We are very excited about this special occasion of remembrance which was requested and organized by our neighbors in the West River community. Come by the Peace Garden and then go and enjoy Westville ArtWalk! Really hope you can join us.

* WEEKLY WORK-DAYS RESUME, FRIDAY, MAY 15, 9:30-11AM

We meet every Friday at 9:30am to work at the Garden, unless there is extremely inclement weather.

We have been talking about possibly moving our regular work time to accommodate more people, particularly students and people from the surrounding blocks in West River and Hill North. Please email us ([email protected]) if you would like to come to our regular work-days but are only available in the evening or on weekends (please suggest a time that might work for you).

__________________

Well, I think that's it for now. Thanks for your ongoing support and hope to see you at the Garden or out in the community sometime very soon!

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

April Peace Garden Updates: Special Work-Day April 16 with Albertus; Regular Work-Days Begin April 24; Official Greenspace Sign Installed; Mother's Day Planting Project

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a Happy Earth Month and provide a few important updates about the Peace Garden:

* Join Us For the First Work-Day of 2026 -- Thursday, April 16, 10am

We had a great year of working in the Garden in 2025, and we are very excited to get going in 2026!

Our first work day of the new year will be on Thursday, April 16 from 10am to 12pm, when we will be hosting a community service activity for students from Albertus Magnus College at the Garden, as we have done the last two years!

[Working with Albertus Magnus students in April 2025.]

Note that this is not our regular work time, but please join us if you are available, even if you are a new volunteer! (We will be giving an introductory garden tour at the beginning.) Parking is available at the garden or across the street. Heavy rain cancels. 

* Regular Weekly Work-Days Resume on Friday, April 24

On April 24 we will resume our regularly scheduled work-days on Friday mornings. We meet every Friday at 9:30am to work at the Garden, unless there is extremely inclement weather.

We have been talking about possibly moving our regular work time to accommodate more people, particularly students and people from the surrounding blocks in West River and Hill North. Please email us ([email protected]) if you would like to come to our regular work-days but are only available in the evening or on weekends (please suggest a time that might work for you).

In June we will begin our collaborative work with Urban Resources Initiative, which runs through August. This is the most important window of time in terms of having volunteer support at the Garden. We are always happy to help students get community service hours for their volunteer participation.

* New Community Greenspace Sign Installed at the Garden  - Yay!

We were thrilled to have our new official Community Greenspace sign installed at the Garden back in February! 

It has been an honor for us to be part of the Community Greenspace program the past five years, and it's great to finally make it official!

* Mother's Day Garden Project

We are very excited to be hosting a special Mother's Day planting at the Garden this year honoring all the wonderful mothers in West River (and across the City) and their special role in nurturing a healthy, positive community!

This project started last year with the creation of a new planting area on the north side the Garden, and will be developed further this year with more formal events and activities involving the Cofield Estates and other community partners. Please stay tuned for more details! 

* Update on New Benches and Signs -- Partnership with New Haven Public Schools is Moving Full Steam Ahead!

As we reported back in December, we are in the process of updating our amenities at the Peace Garden including new benches and signs. In December we mentioned that we were exploring several options for benches and now we can report that we have decided to pursue an exciting partnership with the New Haven Public Schools (in this case, Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse High Schools) in which the students will produce benches for us in their school wood shop! One of the original goals of the Peace Commission going back more than three decades was to forge partnerships with the public schools in New Haven, in order to build community around the promotion of peace, and this project has afforded us a unique opportunity to do just that!

Thanks to the efforts of Fred Brown, JoAnne Wilcox and Manny Camacho of the Peace Commission, and also Millie Grenough and Paul Bloom from Friends of the West River Peace Garden, for helping us to make this connection with the schools and for meeting with school officials and students on multiple occasions. We will keep you updated as this exciting project progresses!

_______________________

Well, I think that's it for now. Thanks for your ongoing support and hope to see you at the Garden or out in the community sometime soon!

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

January 29 Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda

West River Peace Garden Advisory Committee

Meeting Agenda Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026

Time: 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Location: Zoom

I. Call to Order & Welcome

Introductions of members and guests.

Approval of minutes from the previous meeting.

II. 2025 Year in Review

Retrospective: Discussion of major milestones achieved last year.

Budget Summary: Final look at 2025 expenditures and donations.

(Peace Commission transferred $850 to the Peace Garden restricted account in 2025.)

Community Impact: Review of visitor numbers and volunteer engagement.

III. Planning for 2026

Seasonal Goals: Establishing the primary objectives for the upcoming greenspace season.

Events Calendar: Preliminary scheduling of garden tours and workshops.

Resource Allocation: Identifying needs for tools, plants, mulch, etc.

IV. First Work Day: Thursday, April 16

Logistics: Coordinating with Sister Cathy Albertus Magnus

Following week we will resume meeting on Fridays (April 24)

V. Amenities Project Updates: Benches and Signage

Benches Update: Report on meetings with Hillhouse and Wilbur Cross re: bench fabrication.

Signage Update: Installation of official URI Community Greenspace sign.

VI. New Business & Misc.

NHI article about Curtis Cofield Estates.

Helping to shovel out bus stops around Peace Garden.

VII. Announcements

Community news, partner organization updates, upcoming events.

VIII. Adjournment

Next Meeting Date: February 26, 2026

[westriverpeacegarden]

January Peace Garden Updates: Peace Garden Advisory Committee Meeting This Week; Work Days on Hiatus Until April 16; Exciting Update on Benches Project

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year (I hope it's not too late for that) and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden:

* Next West River Peace Garden Advisory Committee Meeting, Thursday, January 29, 4:15-5:15pm

Please join us for the first Advisory Committee meeting of 2026. This meeting will be held virtually as usual -- the Zoom information can be found below. There are many important things that we need to discuss -- e.g. our plans for the upcoming year, and updates about our benches collaboration with New Haven Public Schools (see below for a very abbreviated summary) -- so I hope you can join us. Please let me know if you would like to contribute anything to the agenda, which will be posted on our website.  

West River Peace Garden Advisory Committee

Thursday, Jan 29  •  4:15 – 5:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 827 9111 3116

Passcode: 559472

One tap mobile

[phone],,82791113116#,,,,*559472# US

[phone],,82791113116#,,,,*559472# US (New York)

Join instructions

https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/82791113116/invitations?signature=YXL4ii3Z-PO-csadamDPq8V8KTTC8tmq7RLpQv9mFFY

* Work-Days on Hiatus Until Spring - But SAVE THE DATE For the First 2026 Work-Day on Thursday, April 16

We had a great year of working in the Garden in 2025, completing our seasonal work in November, and our regular weekly work-days are on hiatus until Spring 2026. Last year was really our best year yet in terms of progress at the Garden, with a long list of landmark accomplishments that we reported on in our December newsletter. Thanks to everyone who came out and helped -- we sincerely hope you will join us again in 2026! 

Our first work day of the new year will be on Thursday, April 16 from 10am to 12pm, when we will be hosting a community service activity for students from Albertus Magnus College at the Garden, as we have done the last two years!

[Working with Albertus Magnus students in April 2025.]

After that, we will resume our regularly scheduled work-days on Fridays, beginning on April 24. 

* Update on New Benches and Signs -- Partnership with New Haven Public Schools is Moving Full Steam Ahead!

As we reported back in December, we are in the process of updating our amenities at the Peace Garden including new benches and signs. In December we mentioned that we were exploring several options for benches and now we can report that we have decided to pursue an exciting partnership with the New Haven Public Schools (in this case, Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse High Schools) in which the students will produce benches for us in their school wood shop!

One of the original goals of the Peace Commission going back more than three decades was to forge partnerships with the public schools in New Haven, in order to build community around the promotion of peace, and this project has afforded us a unique opportunity to do just that!

Thanks to the efforts of Fred Brown, JoAnne Wilcox and Manny Camacho of the Peace Commission, and also Millie Grenough and Paul Bloom from Friends of the West River Peace Garden, for helping us to make this connection with the schools and for meeting with school officials and students on multiple occasions. We will keep you updated as this exciting project progresses!Thanks to our friends at Urban Resources Initiative, we will also be installing an official greenspace sign similar to the mock-up below.

This will not be a large sign, and will not be visible except from up close, but it will help give us more of an official status and standing.  We also continue to have conversations with the City's landscape architect about other improvements at the Garden, based on the ideas generated by West River neighbors in our two community brainstorming charrettes. Let us know if you have further ideas in this area.  

* Take the Parks Department Survey - All Hands For New Haven Parks The New Haven Parks Department is completing its first strategic plan in about a decade, which is very exciting. 

We hope you will take the survey and let the Parks Department know that smaller parks and gardens like the Peace Garden should not be neglected, and they need more support and resources from the City. 

* Peace Garden in the News -- Featured in Connecticut Magazine!

In case you missed it, the Peace Garden was featured in a lovely spread in the October 2025 issue of the widely readConnecticut Magazine, beginning on page 20. This article is very similar to the one that appeared in another Hearst CT publication, the New Haven Register, about a month earlier. Thanks to author Declan Walsh and photographer Arnold Gold for doing a great job with the story. Be sure to check it out! (You can find a hard copy at the Library or we can get you a copy.)

Aaron and Paula also recently spoke about the Peace Garden on WATR radio. You can listen to it at the link below (mp3 file). 

 Wow Radio Peace Garden.mp3

Obviously we greatly appreciate these opportunities to tell the story of the Peace Garden and to express our pride in our special ginkgo!

_______________________

Well, I think that's it for now. Thanks for your ongoing support and we hope you are staying warm this winter.

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

December Peace Garden Updates: Work Days on Hiatus; Peace Garden Featured in Connecticut Magazine; Updates on Benches, Signs & New Partnerships; Film Screening January 10

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy holiday season and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden:

* Work-Days on Hiatus Until Spring

We had a great year of working in the Garden in 2025, completing our seasonal work in November. Our regular weekly work-days are currently on hiatus until Spring 2026. 

This was really our best year yet in terms of progress at the Garden -- thanks to everyone who came out and helped us this year!

[Fall colors at the Peace Garden.]

* Peace Garden in the News -- Featured in Connecticut Magazine!

In case you missed it, the Peace Garden was featured in a lovely spread in the October issue of the widely read Connecticut Magazine, beginning on page 20. This article is very similar to the one that appeared in another Hearst CT publication, the New Haven Register, about a month earlier. Thanks to author Declan Walsh and photographer Arnold Gold for doing a great job with the story. Be sure to check it out! (You can find a hard copy at the Library or we can get you a copy.)

Aaron and Paula also recently spoke about the Peace Garden on WATR radio. You can listen to it at the link below (mp3 file). 

 Wow Radio Peace Garden.mp3

Obviously we greatly appreciate these opportunities to tell the story of the Peace Garden and to express our pride in our special ginkgo!

* New Benches and Signs We are in the process of updating our amenities at the Peace Garden including new benches and signs. We are exploring several options for benches, including an exciting partnership with New Haven high school students (thank you to Fred Brown and Joanne Wilcox of the Peace Commission for helping us to make this connection) in which the students would produce benches for us in their school wood shop. We will also be installing an official greenspace sign similar to the mock-up below. 

We also continue to have conversations with the City's landscape architect about other improvements at the Garden, based on the ideas generated by West River neighbors in our two community brainstorming charrettes. Let us know if you have further ideas in this area.  

* Update on Water Access 

As we have noted in previous newsletters, we had a couple major breakthroughs at the Garden this year, one having to do with access to water, the other with respect to our partnership with the Parks Department and its horticultural division. This summer we made a major advance with respect to the water situation at the Garden. As you know, we have been trying for the last 3-4 years to secure an on-site water supply at the Garden. Not having local access to water means we have had to haul water to the site in bottles, barrels and containers, and it effectively makes putting in new trees or larger shrubs an impossibility. 

[Curtis Cofield Estates]

Needless to say, having on-site water is critical to our ability to sustain (not to mention expand) the landscaping at the Garden. This year, the Cofield Estates allowed us to run a hose from their property to a rain barrel on the Peace Garden site, giving us a stable water supply at the Garden and enabling us to expand our landscaping capabilities.  This is a very exciting development and we are grateful to Mayor Justin Elicker and the Cofield Estates for their assistance. 

* New Partnership with Parks Department Horticultural Division

In addition to strengthening our partnership with the Curtis Cofield Estates and the West River Memorial Park Renew Team (including the West River Watershed Coalition and the National Park Service), we have also started working closely with the City of New Haven's horticulture specialist, Gary Dickinson. Gary has helped us to revamp our outer planting area (the planter boxes on the south and north end of the Peace Garden site) and is helping us to create a new floral display that we think will be really spectacular next spring. Stay tuned!

* Film Screening on Dangers of Nuclear War, "A House of Dynamite," Saturday, January 10, 1:30-4pm

Our partners from the City of New Haven Peace Commission have organized a screening of the new film "A House of Dynamite" at the Mitchell Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library on January 10. This award-winning film explores the dangers of nuclear war in a powerful way that highlights the need for nuclear disarmament. 

Representatives of the Peace Commission and Friends of the West River Peace Garden will be at the screening to offer reflections on the film and New Haven's special relationship to the cause of nuclear disarmament through initiatives like the Peace Garden and our survivor ginkgo tree.

 _______________________

Well, I think that's it for now. Thanks for your ongoing support and we wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

Hiroshima 80th Anniversary Commemoration at the Peace Garden

It was an honor to host community members at the Peace Garden this morning to water and lay flowers at the base of our "hibakujumoku" survivor gingko on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Thanks to FoWRPG member Frank Panzarella for providing a superb musical soundtrack. It was a special honor to have atomic veteran Hank Bolden join us for the brief but moving ceremony in the Garden.

[westriverpeacegarden]

July 2025 News: Final Greenspace Work-Day at the Garden; Exciting Water Access Update; Upcoming Hiroshima Commemoration; Reports on Summer Activities

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden:

I wanted to wish you a happy summertime and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden:

* Final Work-Day of URI Greenspace Program THIS FRIDAY, August 1 This Friday, August 1 will be our final Greenspace Program work-day this summer with our URI intern. We will be mulching and planting a few new flowers and shrubs, as well as watering and weeding. Please join us 9:30-11am (or for however long you can make it during that time window) to keep the Garden in good shape and to say goodbye to Allie, our awesome intern!

Please note that we will continue to work on Fridays at the Garden until November but without URI support.  Also you may want to sign up for the annual URI bus tour, which you can do here.

* Update on Water Access -- Exciting News! As you may know, we have been trying for the last 3-4 years to secure an on-site water supply at the Peace Garden. Not having local access to water means we have to haul water to the site in bottles, barrels and containers, and it effectively makes putting in new trees or larger shrubs an impossibility.  Needless to say, having on-site water is critical to our ability to sustain (not to mention expand) the landscaping at the Garden. But we may finally have a breakthrough in this regard. I am pleased to be able to share that we had an excellent meeting and are in the process of making an agreement with our neighbors, the Curtis Cofield Estates, to provide water for the Garden! This is a very exciting development and we are grateful to Mayor Justin Elicker and the Cofield Estates for their assistance. More details TBA.

* Hiroshima 80th Anniversary Commemoration -- Wreath-Laying at the Peace Garden Ginkgo, August 6 As you know, since 2016 the Peace Garden has stewarded a special ginkgo tree that is descended from one that miraculously survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 (a specimen known as a "hibakujumoku"). Taking care of the ginkgo is one of our most important and meaningful responsibilities at the Garden.

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, we will lay a wreath of remembrance on the Peace Garden Ginkgo. There will also be a display of more than 250 peace flags covering the entire area of the Peace Garden. More details TBA. Please note that there will also be Hiroshima/Nagasaki commemoration activities taking place August 6 & 9 on the New Haven Green. (Click here for more info on those activities.)

* Report on Solar Youth Visit to the Peace Garden Earlier This Month

A few weeks ago we were delighted to welcome about a dozen young people from Solar Youth's Summer Green Jobs program to the Peace Garden for a day of stewardship and community collaboration.

It was a wonderful day of sharing and learning -- and we got a lot of work done at the Garden! Thank you Solar Youth for being in community and collaboration with us to promote peace. Look forward to having you again next year, or sooner! 

* Report on Second West River Memorial Park Walk Audit, June 29

From previous newsletters you know that we are one of the advisory committee partners in the West River Memorial Park (WRMP) Renew Team, which is working on access and management issues for WRMP, a beautiful park located directly across the street from the Peace Garden. The National Park Service is assisting the Renew Team in this work. As part of the advisory committee, we have been advocating for better connections and enhanced access between the Peace Garden and WRMP on the other side of Ella Grasso Boulevard. Partly at our urging, the WRMP Renew Team carried out a couple of "walk audits" between March 15 and June 29 bringing together various community stakeholders to examine the pedestrian conditions and park access issues along the Ella Grasso Boulevard, Derby Avenue and Orange Avenue (Route 1) corridors. 

[2nd WRMP walk audit along Orange Avenue / Route 1]

Collectively, the walk audits were attended by Mayor Justin Elicker, three different City department heads, representatives of the South Central Regional Council of Governments, and State Representative Bill Heffernan (D-West Haven), who attended the second audit on June 29. We are very grateful to the organizers of the walk audits and all the officials who attended. When the final report summarizing the results of the walk audits is completed, we will share it with you. 

* Report on 11th Annual West River Water Festival

We were very pleased to participate a few weeks ago in the 11th annual West River Water Festival in West River Memorial Park, sponsored by the Community Placemaking & Engagement Network (CPEN).

With our friends from the City of New Haven Peace Commission, we shared a table at the Festival and talked to many community members about our work. We also led tours of the Peace Garden, which was very exciting and rewarding. We're already looking forward to the 2026 edition of the Water Festival!

Read more about the Water Festival here. 

_______________________

Well, I think that's it for now. Thanks for your ongoing support and I hope to see you soon.

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden 

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

West River Water Festival, July 12

Join us at the 11th annual West River Water Festival on Saturday, July 12 -- taking place just across the street from the Peace Garden! We will be there tabling about the Peace Garden and giving tours of the Peace Garden on request.

[westriverpeacegarden]

June 2025 News: WRMP Walk Audit #2; Next Advisory Committee Meeting; Cofield Estates Opening

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I just wanted to remind you of a few things:

* WRMP Walk Audit #2, Sunday, June 29

Tomorrow, Sunday June 29 at 1pm is the 2nd walk audit for West River Memorial Park. The audit will take a different route from the previous one but will once again end up at the Peace Garden, where we will (hopefully) have the opportunity to give a brief overview of our ongoing beautification efforts and challenges related to traffic safety. The meeting place is on Marginal Drive on the West Haven side of the park. See flyer below.

The last walk audit had many City officials in attendance and it was a great opportunity to brief them on our work. I don't expect as many City officials this time but it's still a good networking opportunity if you are able to make it.

* Next Advisory Committee Meeting, July 28

We moved to quarterly meetings this year and our next meeting is scheduled to take place in July. Right now I would like to do it on Monday, July 28 at 6pm but if there is a better time for you, please let me know. This meeting will be on Zoom (though I would like to explore the possibility of having some in-person meetings later this year). 

I will send out Zoom info in a subsequent email.

* News Article About the Peace Garden: "Peace Gardeners Prepare For New Neighbors"

In case you missed it, check out this great article from the New Haven Independent:

Peace Gardeners Prepare For New Neighbors

As the thermometer showed a temperature in the mid 80s Thursday morning, Paula and Frank Panzarella and Aaron Goode watered the West River P

Thanks to the Independent for coming out and joining us during one of our gardening sessions and reporting on the many challenges and opportunities involved with our work at the Peace Garden.

* Curtis Cofield Estates Opening - Congrats!

Thanks to everyone who attended the ribbon-cutting for the Cofield Estates earlier this month. Friends of the Peace Garden was very well-represented at this inspiring celebratory event.

We were able to obtain a list of good contacts for the Cofield Estates and their property management team. If someone would like to reach out to the team from HallKeen about possibly providing information about the Peace Garden to Cofield residents, or giving a presentation about the Peace Garden in their community space, that would be great! We already have relationships with WRSHIP and to some extent with NHP Foundation but we also want to develop a good relationship with the property management folks who are onsite there every day.

----------------------------

The garden is looking really good right thanks to your support. As always, please let me know your comments and concerns.

Aaron G.

Friends of the West River Peace Garden

westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

May 2025 News: Meet New URI Intern THIS FRIDAY; Meet With Parks Director June 4; Cofield Estates Ribbon-Cutting June 16; Next Walk Audit June 29

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy almost-summertime and provide a few important updates about the Peace Garden:

*  Meeting With New URI Intern -- Friday, May 30, 9:30am

Join us for a greenspace planning meeting with our new URI intern Allie Douma! We are very excited and grateful to be working with URI again this year and are looking forward to a productive summer at the Garden! We will be discussing how we want to structure and pace our greenspace work, what we plant to plant, etc. Please come and contribute to this discussion, particularly if you have ideas about plantings at the Garden.

This meeting will take place on-site at the Peace Garden. Note that this will be a 'working meeting' and we will also be doing some (optional) light clean-up and watering. We continue to meet every Friday morning at the Garden and will continue to do so through November.

* Next Meeting With New Parks Department Director Max Webster -- Wednesday, June 4, 5:30pm

On January 8 several members of Friends of the West River Peace Garden attended a meeting with the new Director of the Parks Department, Max Webster, who assumed his role last November. We raised with him the issue of ARPA funding that was promised for parks and greenspaces like ours, but never delivered. Thanks to Urban Resources Initiative for arranging this meeting and another one in April. The next meeting with Director Webster and members of his team will be held on Wednesday, June 4 and you are invited to attend. (Please RSVP here.)

Attached to this email are notes from one of the meetings with Director Webster that took place earlier this year.

* Ribbon-Cutting for the Curtis Cofield Estates -- Monday, June 16, 11am - 1pm

There will be a celebratory ribbon-cutting for the new Curtis Cofield Estates (directly adjacent to the Peace Garden) on Monday, June 16, from 11am to 1pm. Lunch will be provided.  

Join us in celebrating the long-awaited completion of this new affordable housing option for the community. There will be a tent in case of inclement weather. If you are planning to attend, please RSVP to [email protected].

* SAVE THE DATE: Follow-Up Walk Audit of Ella Grasso Boulevard, Orange Avenue (Route 1), Marginal Drive and West River Memorial Park -- Sunday, June 29, 1-3pm

From previous newsletters you know that we are one of the advisory committee partners in the West River Memorial Park (WRMP) Renew Team, which is working on access and management issues for WRMP which is located across the street from the Peace Garden. The National Park Service is assisting the Renew Team in this work. As part of the advisory committee, we have been advocating for better connections and enhanced access between the Peace Garden and WRMP on the other side of Ella Grasso Boulevard. Partly at our urging, the WRMP Renew Team carried out a "walk audit" on March 15 bringing together various community stakeholders to examine the pedestrian conditions and park access issues along the Ella Grasso Boulevard and Derby Avenue corridors. The walk audit was attended by Mayor Justin Elicker, three different city department heads, and representatives of the South Central Regional Council of Government. We are very grateful to the organizers of the walk audit and all the officials who attended.

We are pleased to announce there will be a follow-up walk audit along the southern perimeter of West River Memorial Park taking place on Sunday, June 29. We will have more information about this event in a subsequent newsletter, but if you have any questions at the moment you can contact the walk audit point person Kat Jacobs at [email protected].

As you know from our previous newsletter, we recently had new sidewalks installed at the Peace Garden, which is a tremendous improvement and a sign of the progress we have been making. But there is much more work to do (which is the reason for the walk audits).

* Report-Back on AWESOME Community Service Day With Albertus Magnus Students, April 10

We had a wonderful work-day (our first of the year) in April with students from Albertus Magnus College. It's still early in the season but the garden is already looking great thanks to all the community support!

It was our second year collaborating with Albertus on their spring community service day and they have been fantastic to work with. More pictures can be found on our website. Special thanks to Sister Cathy Buchanan for including us.  

___________________________________________

Thanks for your ongoing support and I hope to see you soon.

Aaron G. Friends of the West River Peace Garden westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

Springtime at the Peace Garden

Spring colors are popping at the Peace Garden!

[westriverpeacegarden]

Volunteering at the Garden

Thank you Albertus Magnus College student volunteers for joining us last week! You did an awesome job cleaning up the Garden. We will resume our regular Friday work-days this Friday, April 17. All are welcome to join us!

[westriverpeacegarden]

March 2025 News: Walk Audit Report-Back; Panel Discussion on Greenspaces; First Work-Day of 2025

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy springtime and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden:

March 15 Walk Audit Report-Back -- A Great Success!

From previous newsletters you know that we are one of the advisory committee partners in the West River Memorial Park (WRMP) Renew Team, which is working on access and management issues for WRMP -- located directly across the street from the Peace Garden. The National Park Service is assisting the Renew Team in this work. As part of the advisory committee, we have been advocating for better connections and enhanced access between the Peace Garden and WRMP on the other side of Ella Grasso Boulevard. At our urging, the WRMP Renew Team carried out a "walk audit" on March 15 bringing together various community stakeholders to examine the pedestrian conditions and park access issues along the Ella Grasso Boulevard and Derby Avenue corridors. The walk audit was attended by Mayor Justin Elicker, three different city department heads, and representatives of the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG). We are very grateful to the organizers of the walk audit and all the officials who attended.

As you know from our previous newsletter, we recently had new sidewalks installed at the Peace Garden, which is a tremendous improvement and a sign of the progress we have been making. But there is much more work to do. Another walk audit will be taking place later this year, details TBD.

Panel Discussion on New Haven Parks & Greenspaces, Thursday, March 27

We are participating in a panel discussion at the Institute Library (847 Chapel Street) this Thursday, March 27, alongside other parks advocates. We will be talking about how important our parks and greenspaces are in fostering community, solidarity and resiliency and how they play a critical role in maintaining the physical and mental health of our residents.

This program is free and open to the public. Hope you can join us!

Meeting With New Parks Department Director Max Webster -- Next Meeting April 2

On January 8 several members of Friends of the West River Peace Garden attended a meeting with the new Director of the Parks Department, Max Webster, who assumed his role last November. We raised with him the issue of ARPA funding that was promised for parks and greenspaces like ours, but never delivered. Thanks to Urban Resources Initiative for arranging this meeting.

The next meeting with Director Webster will be held on Wednesday, April 2 and you are invited to attend. (Please RSVP here.) Attached to this email are notes from the first meeting with Director Webster. Please note that we also recently met with the City's new landscape architect, Josh Price, to discuss future upgrades to the Peace Garden.

First Work-Day of 2025! Thursday, April 10 -- Friday Work-Days Resume April 18

Our first garden work-day of 2025 will take place on Thursday, April 10 at 9:30am. We will be cleaning out the garden and possibly doing some planting as well. In fact, we may be planting a new tree with Urban Resources Initiative in the central part of the garden, which we have been anticipating with great excitement since last fall!

Student volunteers from Albertus Magnus College will be joining us that day (April 10), but we need experienced volunteers to help supervise. The following week, April 18, we will resume our regular work-days on Friday mornings.

Hope you can join us for another season of working in the garden and making it even better!

________________________

Thanks for your ongoing support and I hope to see you soon.

Aaron G. Friends of the West River Peace Garden westriverpeacegarden.org

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Walk Audit Recap

Thanks to everyone who attended our March 15 walk audit around West River Memorial Park -- especially to Mayor Justin Elicker, Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli, City Engineer Giovanni Zinn, and the other City officials who joined us. We are deeply committed to improving access to our open spaces and green spaces, not just for the benefit of the Peace Garden but also for West River Memorial Park across the boulevard, and for the safety of the families who will shortly be living at Curtis Cofield Estates and other families already living in the West River and Hill North communities.

[westriverpeacegarden]

Panel Discussion on Parks & Greenspaces

We will be participating in a panel discussion this week at the Institute Library -- join us!

[westriverpeacegarden]

February 2025 News: New Sidewalks; Meeting with Parks Department Director; Ella Grasso Boulevard Walk Audit

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy new year and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden:

* New Sidewalks at Peace Garden

As part of the infrastructure work related to the building of Curtis Cofield Estates, new sidewalks have been installed around the Peace Garden, i.e. on the south side of MLK Boulevard and the north side of Legion Avenue, extending from Tyler Street to Ella Grasso Boulevard.

We believe that this is a positive step forward in terms of providing greater pedestrian accessibility to the Peace Garden, particularly for the 56 new families who will be moving into the Curtis Cofield Estates. It will also provide greater accessibility to West River Memorial Park and the canoe launch, playing fields and other amenities there. However, there is much more work to do in terms of creating a safe environment for pedestrians and bicyclists, and we will be discussing that subject further at the Ella Grasso "walk audit" taking place on March 15 (see below for more information on the walk audit).

* Meeting With New Parks Department Director; Follow-up Meeting April 2

On January 8 several members of Friends of the West River Peace Garden attended a meeting with the new Director of the Parks Department, Max Webster, who assumed his role last November. We raised with him the issue of ARPA funding that was promised for parks and greenspaces like ours, but never delivered. Thanks to Urban Resources Initiative for arranging this meeting. The next meeting with Director Webster will be held on Wednesday, April 2 and you are invited to attend. (Please RSVP here.) Attached to this email are notes from the first meeting with Director Webster. Please note that we also recently met with the City's new landscape architect, Josh Price, to discuss future upgrades to the Peace Garden.

* Next Advisory Committee Meeting, Thursday, February 27

We will be holding our first advisory committee meeting of 2025 on Thursday, February 27 at 6pm on Zoom. I will send out the agenda and Zoom information in a follow-up email and post on our website as well.

* Exciting News! Ella Grasso Boulevard Walk Audit, Saturday, March 15

From previous newsletters you know that we are one of the advisory committee partners in the West River Memorial Park (WRMP) Renew Team, which is working on access and management issues for the WRMP that is located across the street from the Peace Garden. The National Park Service is assisting the Renew Team in this work. As part of the advisory committee, we have been advocating for better connections between the Peace Garden and WRMP on the other side of Ella Grasso Boulevard. At our urging, the WRMP Renew Team has scheduled a "walk audit" bringing together various community stakeholders to examine the pedestrian conditions and park access issues along the Ella Grasso Boulevard corridor. This walk audit has been scheduled for Saturday, March 15. I do not have further details at this time, but will let you know as soon as I do. I hope you can attend this important community workshop. Also please let me know if you would like to participate in the meetings of the Renew Team.   .   Thanks for your ongoing support and I hope to see you soon. Aaron G. Friends of the West River Peace Garden westriverpeacegarden.org

[westriverpeacegarden]

November 2024 News & Updates

Dear Friend of the Peace Garden,

I wanted to wish you a happy holidays and provide a few updates about the Peace Garden:

* WRMP Renew Team Meeting, Wednesday, Nov. 20

Friends of the Peace Garden members have recently been attending the meetings of the West River Memorial Park Renew Team, which is a unique partnership of groups working to enhance West River Memorial Park (WRMP) through a technical assistance grant from the National Park Service. As part of the advisory committee for the grant, we are advocating for better connections between the Peace Garden and WRMP on the other side of Ella Grasso Boulevard. The next meeting of the Renew Team is Wednesday, November 20, 2pm on Zoom (and every third Wednesday thereafter). Please let me know if you would like to attend these meetings to support our community outreach efforts.  

* Meeting with City Landscape Architect, Friday, November 22, 9:30am

Recently Friends of the Peace Garden member Paul Bloom and I had a productive Zoom meeting with the City's new landscape architect, Josh Price. We will be meeting again with Mr. Price for a "site visit" this Friday, November 22 at 9:30am at the Peace Garden. We will be discussing and getting feedback about our ideas for possible physical infrastructure improvements to the Peace Garden. You are welcome to join us for this important meeting, or let us know any thoughts or ideas you would like us to share with Mr. Price.

* Peace Garden Work-Days On Hiatus After This Friday

This Friday will be our final work-day at the Peace Garden until spring 2025. We will be meeting with the City's landscape architect (see above), doing some light clean-up and planting some bulbs, but mostly taking it easy. Thanks to everyone who helped out at the Garden this season.

* Peace Garden Advisory Committee Meeting, Monday, November 25, 5:30pm (Zoom)

We will be holding our final advisory committee meeting of the year next Monday, November 25 at 5:30pm on Zoom. The Zoom information is below. Please RSVP if possible. Aaron Goode is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: West River Peace Garden Advisory Committee Time: Nov 25, 2024 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84017684556?pwd=INc2pzXhEp2i1jGzO1HmNg8kTqSlwr.1

Meeting ID: 840 1768 4556 Passcode: 982882

I will send out the agenda shortly and post on our website as well.

_______________________

Thanks for your ongoing support and happy holidays.

Aaron G. Friends of the West River Peace Garden westriverpeacegarden.org