Daffodil Day at North End Park

The Friends of the North End Parks joined with the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and North End Beautification Committee for the 1st Annual Daffodil Day on Sunday, April 14, 2013. The event celebrated the beauty of Spring on the Greenway with daffodils, music, poetry and fun.

City Councilor Sal LaMattina led the ribbon cutting at the community event that was highlighted by a special performance from the Boston String Academy. In addition, NEMPAC student, Grace Abbott, read a Spring poem to celebrate the daffodils and honor National Poetry Month. The Greenway Conservancy brought out its popular lawn games and NEMPAC had its Instrument Petting Zoo on hand with face painting by Becca Griffin and other parents. North End RUFF joined in on the fun with their own dog show. Light refreshments were available from Spindrift and Lulu’s Sweet Shoppe.

The event was made possible by a massive effort last Fall to plant over 13,000 daffodils on the North End Parks and the surrounding curb gardens along Cross Street. It was truly a group effort with the Friends of the North End Parks, Beautification Committee and the Greenway Conservancy collaborating with several networks of volunteers, including 27 kids from the North End’s Eliot School. The Friends of The North End Parks thanked the generous donors and the assistance of Brent & Becky Bulbs. In addition to the students from The Eliot School, participants included the Seaport Academy, Master Gardeners, North End residents and Greenway Gardens volunteers.

Special thanks to Jorge Mendoza from Monica’s for helping to fund the bulbs as well as Maria’s Pastry, ReMax and Boston Portfolio Properties, LLC.

On hand from FOTNEP at the event was President Nathan Swain, Vice-President Diane Mustone, Secretary David Kubiak, event organizer Diane Valle with supporters Joe McKenna and Deni Ross. FOTNEP isn’t stopping with just the daffodils, according to FOTNEP President Nathan Swain. He recently gave a presentation to the Greenway Conservancy Board to bring new perennials and add four season color to enliven the North End Parks. For its part, the Conservancy recently announced funding for shade umbrellas and plans to add several shade trees this Spring to the lawn areas. A recent workshop was held to brainstorm on these issues and others related to the North End Parks on the Greenway.