It's My Park Day in Brentwood Park Recap

Thanks to everyone who made It's My Park Day in Brentwood Park a success! We tackled a lot of projects and the results are amazing! Plus we had fun and connected with our neighbors. Check out our web site and Facebook page (see links in signature line below) for pictures of the day¹s events.

Here's what our 37 volunteers accomplished:

One team, led by Cheryl Goveia, cleaned up the planting beds outside the pool area. Small saplings of mountain laurel and red oak were transplanted from undesirable areas into new spots around the pool, existing trees around the pool were pruned and new planting beds were created.

Another team, led by Emily Wilson, removed all the nandina and other invasive shrubs inside the pool fence. They will be replaced with more suitable native shrubs in a near-future work day. Also, a lot of trash and toys that had found their way into that densely vegetated area over the years was cleaned out.

A third team, led by Karen Lorenzini, landscaped the area around the Brentwood Park sign on the east side of the park, thanks to a mini-grant from Austin Parks Foundation and donations of plants from neighbors. We are hoping El Nino will stick around long enough to help the new plants get established, but if we have another extended drought, we may call on volunteers to adopt these new plantings.

And last but not least, Phil Tomlin led a team in mulching trees and bare, compacted soil on the west side of the park and refreshing the walking trail. You may notice a few piles of left-over mulch around the park because we received more than we expected. We will be putting together a mini-work day in the next couple of weeks to finish distributing the mulch.

Here is an example of the wonderful synergy sparked between park volunteer and user as reported by volunteer Kat Correa:

"As Dave, Autumn, and Jennifer and I were tackling the mounds of mulch along the trail, a nicely dressed gentleman was participating in a birthday party at a nearby picnic table. He came over in his slacks and loafers and helped us shovel and move mulch for a bit. He said he wanted to do his part since he was enjoying the fruits of our labor. How neighborly!"

And I (Hedrich) also had a nice encounter with some regular softball players, out for a weekend practice, who are interested in getting their group involved in revitalizing the ball field. Also, on more than one occasion, people jogging by or through the park or walking their dogs expressed encouragement and appreciation. Talk about warm glow!

We'd like to thank Austin Parks Foundation (APF), Wheatsville Co-op and Austin Parks & Rec Dept., as well as all the other event sponsors for making It's My Park Day happen all across Austin. Special thanks go to Genuine Joe Coffee for providing hot chocolate and Taco Deli for breakfast tacos to our group. And, of course, many, many thanks to our incredible volunteers for their hard work and service to the community!

We ended up with a few tools afterwards, so if you are missing a tool please contact Hedrich at 459-1750. Plus any volunteer who showed up, regardless of whether they registered on-line or not, if you DID NOT get one of the awesome t-shirts and would like one, let Hedrich know as well. There were several left over and APF has extras as well.

We're not done yet... Stay tuned for more ways you can get involved in making Brentwood Park a better place! If you are itching to make a difference now, we are always happy to accept financial or in-kind donation assistance towards future work days. For example, we will need to gather plants and materials for the pool area to replace what was removed. Email me directly for in-kind donations or follow the links in the signature line below if you'd like to make a cash donation.

We are still trying to build a database of park users with interests in specific areas of the park to help lead or participate in projects to revitalize and improve those areas. On Saturday, we identified a number of people who are interested in general landscaping projects, the walking trail, addressing dog use issues, the playground, the pool, the tennis courts, basketball court, fitness station, the volley ball court and baseball field. The more interest expressed in a specific area, the more likely a project will get done to address that area. If you didn't get a chance to sign that sheet or weren't there but are interested in one or more of these areas, please send Hedrich or Emily a message and we will add you to the appropriate list(s). Thank you!

Emily Wilson & Hedrich Michaelsen
Friends of Brentwood Park Co-Coordinators
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Friends of Brentwood Park
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Tax-deductible monetary donations toward park improvement activities can be made through the Austin Parks Foundation by selecting "Brentwood Park, Friends of" under "Gifts to Special Funds."