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Earth Day at the Park


 

On this day in 2017, the Chrysalis made its official debut as a community space for the arts and the first component of Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods. I believe it has changed our community for the better. It has certainly changed my life for the better. 

The program from opening day:



 
It was a great honor for me to have my writing included on the program that day. But that was only the beginning of the joy I have had in the park: attending all sorts of concerts, enjoying holiday lights and decorations, exploring the Mini-Maker Faire and the Fantasywood Festival, and, best of all, leading preschool dance parties on the Chrysalis stage.

After a year of quiet due to the pandemic, the park is coming back to life. This season's performance events are shaping up. I’ll have more on that in a future post.

In honor of Earth Day, I want to focus on the work of the Trust as environmental stewards of the land. In this piece on the Inner Arbor Trust website, they describe Going for a Walk in the Woods. 

...our work is not all playing in the woods and creating events -it is preserving and protecting this piece of open space for the community.  To protect the land we need to deal with the runoff issues and repair the stream.

Luckily, solutions exist, and we are thrilled to be working with great local partners to work through these issues.   

And here’s more from President and CEO of the Trust, Nina Basu:

...we are the stewards of the land.  And the land needs help.  I can rail about the impact of climate change later, but for now, know that we are raising money to install conservation landscaping in this public park.  In other words - awesome native plants that will make the land more durable by helping to manage water, but also containing and treating run off.  

I am most excited that we are working with Howard EcoWorks on this project.  Not only are we improving the land and watershed  - we are working to create green job training.  We are working to try to raise $50K to fully fund 10 trainees this summer in the READY program - trainees earn a wage AND leave with marketable skills that can be turned into a career.  

Your investment improves the watershed, creates beauty, and also funds real-world job training.  

There’s a lot going on in the park right now. They’re getting ready for the 2021 concert season, and they continue to spread the word about the new concept plan for the park, created in collaboration wth members of the community. And, while all that is going on, they’re raising funds to care for the land and make the park enjoyable by future generations.

If you’d like to help, I think it would make a great Earth Day gift:


Meanwhile, if you want to stay up to date on upcoming performances, make sure to follow the park on Facebook.


It’s going to be a wonderful summer. I’ll meet you at the Chrysalis.


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