Join us this Saturday at 1 pm to help distribute wood chips around the off-leash area. We’ll meet at the northeast corner of the park (Skidmore & 37th). Bring a hard tined rake, work gloves, and a water bottle. Please wear a mask and observe 6 feet of social distancing. This event can count toward community service requirements.
That’s easier to read!
This morning we cleaned up the signposts around the off-leash dog park. All of them were quite dirty with a lot of moss and lichen growing in the recessed lettering and the Portland Parks logo. One post had also been marked with some graffiti.
We discovered that there is still actually quite a bit of paint on the signs, but the main problem affecting legibility was just that the posts are covered in moss and dirt. So this morning we focused on just giving the signposts a good cleaning, and the results were good:
The deep cleaning was much needed, and we’ll schedule another day soon to touch up the lettering as some of the signs have had the paint wear away in places. Even that graffiti came off with soap, water, and elbow grease. We want to coordinate further with the Parks team about properly repainting the rest of the posts so they last longer.
This is the sort of task that we can do. The Portland Parks and Recreation team is made of of great, hard working people, but there just isn’t staff time or budget to take care of every little thing. By taking responsibility for our community park, we can show park visitors what a great neighborhood this is and how much we care about our public spaces.
As we worked, we chatted about last weekend’s mulch party over at the NatureSpace, particularly about the great volunteer turnout and how many children were involved. It really was gratifying to see so many children helping and having a great time doing it. The little ones were proud of themselves and eager to show that they could help their park. Children can do so much if adults will just provide them with the opportunity. We decided that we need to be sure to come up with service opportunities for children at least a few times a year, not only to cultivate a sense of community pride in our kids but also to help them see that they have valuable skills to offer the world.
Dog Park Signpost Painting Party
Tomorrow morning at 9:00 the painting party will convene at Wilshire Park. It’s not too late to join the volunteers who have already committed to helping, and all you need to do is show up. Looks like the weather will be perfect — nice and clear, although it will be brisk so wear a coat. It would be very helpful if volunteers could bring old hand towels or paper towels, small craft paint brushes, and old dish brushes, so don’t forget these supplies as everyone will need these tools to work. Paint will be provided.
We’ll use the dish scrubbers to to clean out the recessed lettering, removing any dirt and moss. After a wipe down the lettering will be ready for repainting.
This is a small project, but an important one, as it will make the boundaries of the off leash area more clear. The top concern we’ve had expressed about the dog area at Wilshire Park is that not enough park visitors are using it, instead allowing their dogs to wander off-leash all over the park. Multnomah County’s leash law (and basic politeness) prohibit this, and parents in particular don’t like to see dogs off leash outside the dog park, as a perfectly friendly golden retriever can be massive and intimidating to a toddler. It’s our hope that repainting the signpost lettering will help people be aware of the boundaries of the off-leash area and be more conscientious about keeping their dogs on leash outside of its boundaries.
We’ll see you at the park!
This month’s volunteer days
This Saturday is Mulch Day at the NatureSpace! Now that the fence is in, we need to spread mulch over the site to smother out grass and weeds and prepare the soil for Planting Day on November 10. Tell everyone you know — whatever their age or ability, there will be something do do. Parents with little ones are especially encouraged to come, as it’s never too early to provide children with an opportunity to serve in their community. Also, playing with mulch using toy buckets and shovels is really, really fun. Even if your family can only stay a little while, the Friends of Wilshire Park will be very happy to have you.
We will get started at 8 a.m. and likely finish up around noon, depending on the number of volunteers that show up. Bring a picnic lunch, as we’ll all eat together at about noon. All volunteers must wear gloves, and please bring buckets, shovels, hard-tined rakes, and wheelbarrows to help distribute the mulch over the site. Please do not forget to sign up on our official volunteer form so that you can be counted and receive up to date information. All volunteer hours can be used for scouts, school, or other official programs.
We have another volunteer opportunity coming up next weekend — repainting the lettering on the sign posts around the dog park. The words on the posts are pretty much illegible, which isn’t helpful as we want dog owners to know the boundaries of the off leash area as well as provide a reminder that dogs should never be off leash elsewhere in the park. One of the top complaints at early meetings of Friends of Wilshire Park is that many dog owners fail to keep their dogs on leash, and when dogs bolt through the children’s play area they frighten little children or even knock them down. Additionally, many older children and adults are not comfortable around unleashed dogs, so repainting the sign posts will help remind dog owners to have good park etiquette.
We will paint the signposts on Saturday, October 13 at 9 am, staying as long as we need to. If we are rained out, we will try again on Saturday, October 20. Volunteers should bring old kitchen dish brushes to clean out the recessed lettering and small craft paintbrushes if they have them. Paint will be provided. If you wish to help repaint the signposts, please send an e-mail to friends@friendsofwilshirepark.org.
Meeting Notes: 19 September 2018
On September 19, 2018, the leaders of various Friends of Wilshire Park teams met to prepare for the installation of the NatureSpace and plan for future projects.
Volunteer recruitment for the three NatureSpace dates (26 September, 6 October, and 10 November) is going well and at this point there are sufficient volunteers to get the job done, although there is room for more people to join in, so recruitment should continue to allow as many community members who can to contribute to this project.
Sign post repainting for the off-leash dog park will take place on Saturday, October 13. If the weather is too rainy that day, then this will be bumped to Saturday, October 20. Any interested volunteers should arrive at the park at 9 a.m. and bring any craft brushes, plastic dish brushes, and paper towels that they are willing to contribute. The dish brushes will be used to gently clean out the recessed lettering, which will be repainted with small craft brushes.
The bulk of the discussion focused on how to begin fundraising to replace all of the broken equipment in the children’s play area. Portland Parks and Recreation allocated a little bit of bond money to replace the largest of the pieces, with work to begin any day now. This will provide a badly needed replacement so that babies and toddlers will have somewhere to play for the time being, but more work must be done to replace the other splintered and rotting pieces.
The leadership team went through a list of questions given to us by city representatives, which encouraged decisions on which fiscal sponsor to work with, what sort of fundraising efforts the Friends will engage in, and how to communicate with the public. This resulted in a to-do list that included reaching out to our preferred fiscal sponsor, writing op-eds for local newsletters and newspapers, applying for grant money, and recruiting committee members with experience and interest in this area. The PTAs of local schools seemed like a good place to start, and our goal is to have some PTA members attend our next meeting.
The next meeting of Friends of Wilshire Park was set for October 17.
Grab a rake
This morning two Friends of Wilshire Park headed to the north side of the dog park for an hour to rake out some of a new delivery of mulch. They put a pretty big dent in the pile, especially considering that one of the volunteers was only four years old!
The volunteers will come back over the next week to keep spreading out the pile, but if any other Friends would like to help out, just grab a rake or shovel and head to the park! The mulch needs to be evenly spread out in the are where it was dumped, covering areas where last year’s mulch has worn thin. Any especially sharp pieces of wood can be tossed under the base of a tree to keep them from injuring the dogs’ paws. If you do help out, please leave a comment on this post telling us how many work hours you put in as Portland Parks and Recreation likes to track volunteer hours. Volunteer time can also be used toward community service projects for school or scouts, so students in need of a summer activity can help out! Just drop an e-mail to friends@friendsofwilshirepark.org for a verification form for your volunteer time.