Do you remember those eight days of non-stop rain that started near the beginning of October? Well, The NYC Parks Department, Partnership for Parks once again organized the semi-annual My Parks Day, scheduled for October 15th. Even on that Saturday morning it still looked like more rain
plus very chilly weather.
The event was to start at 9:30AM, and no one arrived yet. Then, shortly after 9:30, the hardworking Juniors showed up. By 10 AM, the sun was out, the temperature was comfortable, and the Juniors began planting and the cleanup. The youngsters worked until just about noon. Luckily, because of the long rain, the soil was softer, so planting nearly100 daffodils was a little easier.This coming spring, you should be able to visit the southwest entrances to the park to see the daffodils planted by the good kids who contribute time and effort to our community.
When the Juniors weren’t busy planting, they were raking, sweeping and bagging leaves. They were able to fill nearly ten large bags. Two weeks later, on November 5, members once again assembled at City Council Member Dennis Gallagher’s office to head out to remove graffiti. The Juniper Juniors were assigned two main locations on Metropolitan Ave and 78th Street. Two building walls had been covered with shaving cream graffiti. Shaving cream must be scrubbed hard to be removed, and these members went at the job energetically! One young lady who worked very hard – Christine Patti – wrote the following letter after the cleanup:
“These are my thoughts about the graffiti cleanup day:”
“I never thought much about vandalism. The people who do it probably don't realize how much damage it causes. It makes the community look bad. We live in a good neighborhood that we should be proud of. When I went to help clean up the graffiti and shaving cream I saw we were making a difference
and having fun. It felt good to help the community, and people really appreciated what we were doing.”
Christine Patti
Well said, Christine! Thanks for writing. All Juniper Juniors, please always feel free to write your thoughts for the Juniper Berry.
Maspeth resident Mike Fordunski, a first class graffiti warrior joined us and took some of the youngsters down 78th
Street and along Metropolitan Avenue to paint over graffiti on mailboxes. All Juniper Juniors, their family and friends are welcome to attend the Juniper Park Civic Association’s
Holiday Party/Raffle at Our Lady of Hope Auditorium on Thursday, December 8, at 7:45PM. Raffle tickets are free for any one who attends. Any ticket holder is eligible to win.
At our September meeting, the members wanted to have a bake sale to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Holiday Party/Raffle is the occasion for the bake sale. Members and friends can make cakes, cookies, cupcakes, pies, or whatever specialty you want to sell to those who attend. All funds will be given to a charity – religious
or otherwise – who will see that the Katrina victims are assisted. Congratulations, Juniper Juniors for your generous thoughts for the Katrina victims.
