Friends of Monument Valley Park
Ken Pals, a naturalist from the El Paso County Parks Department, led our walk. We saw or heard over 20 species of birds including: a great blue heron, mallard, northern flicker,black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, spotted towhee and spotted sandpiper.
Probably, the most exciting bird was a nesting Cooper's Hawk. It was a great morning for bird watching.
Thanks to all who came out. See you next year!
FMVP Tenth Anniversary Lilac Planting
FMVP celebrated the tenth anniversary of the organization's inception by teaming with city parks personnel to plant lilac bushs in the the Park. The varieties were General Palmer's favorites: the common purple, the common white, the Ludwig spaeth, and Persian lilac.
The ten lilacs are just west of the parking lot on Glen and Cache la
Poudre, by the main
parking lot on the way to the tennis courts. A commemorative plaque will be placed there soon.
Arbor Day 2010
Arbor Day 2010 was celebrated in typical spring weather April 30, with attendance from City Council, the Old North End Neighborhood (ONEN) and FMVP members along with the general public.
Judith Rice Jones, a founding member of FMVP was honored with an Urban Forestry Award, presented by Becky Wagner of Mountain High Tree Service.
After the ceremony, 16 students and chaperones from the Deaf and Blind School joined FMVP members, ONEN President Vic Appugliese, and Becky Lamphear of City Forestry to plant trees in the triangular area by the Colorado College tennis courts.
At the same time (and from 7 am this morning!) Jeremy Silva from Catholic Charities had a large group of workers from the Marian House cleaning up the park, starting just south of the Marian House and going north almost to Uintah.
Just as all the work was finished, the snow flakes started--par for the course in spring! It was pretty sunny the entire morning and the flowering trees in the park look especially beautiful.
Thanks to Vic and ONEN for the donation of the trees and to Vic for all his hard work in this effort.
Thanks to Jeremy for organizing his workers and doing a great job on cleanup today.
Thanks to Judith for all her dedication to the parks and to the city over the years. This was the 33rd year in a row that Colorado Springs has been designated as a Tree City USA
Arbor Day 2009
FMVP participated fully with the city on Arbor Day April 24. Thanks to a
collaborative effort, there are five beautiful, healthy new trees planted
in the north part of MVP.
Several board members put their shovels and
gloves to good work to plant 2 red oaks, 1 Japanese pagoda, and 2
Hackberry trees in the north part of MVP. Thanks to Teri Peisner, Linda Kennison,
Priscilla Englen, Judi Ingelido, Judi's daughter Julie and her two children for all their
hard work. It was lots of fun!
Additional thanks to Vic Appugliese from ONEN who
reserved the trees, delivered them to the park, and helped plant them.
Also appreciation to Parks and Forestry for their coordination and
participation. Volunteers from the Deaf and Blind School also
participated in the planting event.
First Annual Monument Valley Park Cleanup May 2009
Forty-degree temperatures and persistent drizzle didn’t dampen the spirits of the nearly 100 volunteers who met on Saturday, May 2, to clean up
The Cleanup Committee chairs, Cathy Mundy and Linda Kennison of FMVP and Vic Appugliese of ONEN, coordinated the volunteers from two check-in sites staffed by FMVP board members. Site One covered the north end of the park from Uintah to the north boundary. This team focused on clearing up trash, brush and the multitude of small broken limbs in the forested areas. Site Two covered the park from Uintah south to the Bridge and concentrated on trash in the creek beds.
Volunteers ranged from members of FMVP and ONEN to organized groups, individuals, and families. We had a wonderful team of 28 from the Marian House Soup Kitchen/ Catholic Charities. Frank Mora, who led that team, just couldn't say enough good things about the people at Site Two. Cheryl Larkin brought a team from 83 west
Tom Kiemel of Bestway Disposal gave a big boost to the effort by providing, without charge, two
At the end of the morning, volunteers were soggy but satisfied, and there was a mountain of trash ready to be picked up by the Parks Department.
It’s impossible to name everyone who had some part in making this cleanup such a huge success, but we want to recognize these people: Site One: Cathy Mundy, her sister Shannon Rowan, Jan Mahony, Priscilla Engeln, and Marcy McNeill. Site Two: Patty Chase, Judith Rice-Jones, Meg and Phil Kendall, Judi Ingelido, Charlie Oliver and Teri Peisner. Cathy Mundy, Linda Kennison, Patty Chase and FMVP President Ann Brock were instrumental in conceiving the project and bringing it to fruition.
