Tag: West River Peace Garden

News about New Haven’s Peace Garden

by Paula Panzarella, Friends of the West River Peace Garden

On July 23, a contingent from Friends of the West River Peace Garden met with managers from Cofield Estates to talk about mutual programs and community resources. The West River Peace Garden is bounded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Ella Grasso Boulevard, and Legion Avenue. The Cofield Estates is a new housing development that abuts the garden.

For decades, where Cofield Estates now stands, this was an empty parcel of land. Members of the West River Self Help Investment Plan (WRSHIP) worked to bring housing to this area for almost 25 years. Finally, it’s been created.

We talked about how the garden became a designated United Nations Peace Garden and why New Haven is a Peace Messenger City. Previously, Mayor Justin Elicker was in contact with Cofield Estates about the Peace Garden.

We mentioned that the Peace Garden would like to have access to a water spigot, and that we can help involve Cofield Estate residents in neighborhood and environmental organizations. We can set up canoe rides at West River Memorial Park, offer bicycle safety classes and repair workshops, and have residents’ teenagers earn volunteer hours at the Peace Garden.

The representatives of Cofield Estates were enthusiastic about the various ways we could help bring programs to the residents, the first of whom moved into the new 56 apartment complex in April.

Within a week of our July 23 meeting, Friends of the West River Peace Garden were given a key to the water spigot on one of the buildings. We now can run lengths of hose to the garden to keep the plants and trees watered. We also can fill up a rain barrel that will store enough water to keep the garden in good shape for two weeks. We look forward to the residents joining us in the garden and in other collaborative projects.

Please consider volunteering! For more information, contact Aaron Goode at aaron.goode@gmail.com, or 203-507-8985. Our website is https://westriverpeacegarden.org.

West River Peace Garden Gets Ready to Bloom!

by Paula Panzarella, West River Peace Garden

Spring is here! And the West River Peace Garden will soon be blossoming with a wide assortment of colorful native flowers, thanks to the work of the crew and Urban Resources Initiative, who, starting April 18, will be there every Friday from 9:30-11:30 a.m. We encourage all to come help beautify this wonderful entrance-way into New Haven, bounded by Legion Avenue, Ella Grasso Boulevard, and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard/North Frontage Road.

One of the Peace Gardens’ most significant plantings is a ginkgo tree from Hiroshima, Japan. The tree is from a cutting from a ginkgo that survived the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima.

Volunteers are always appreciated and needed to help weed, plant, mulch and water. Starting April 18, feel free to come by Fridays at 9:30 a.m. and join us for an hour or two. There is a large curb cut at the corner of Ella Grasso Boulevard and Legion Avenue where you can drive to the garden.

For more information, please contact Aaron Goode at aaron.goode@gmail.com, or phone 203-507-8985.

Please visit the website at https://westriverpeacegarden.org.