In honor of the winners of Mayor John DeStefano’s first annual Green Awards, the sun shone brightly Tuesday, the birds sang sweetly, and a big crowd turned out to see a flowering cherry tree planted at Beaver Pond Park. (And the guns were fired noisily, but that’s another story.) The honorees were Oliver Barton, director of Common Ground High School, and Ed Grant, an environmental activist for decades, whose many claims to fame include the annual Freddy Fixer parade, which promotes clean-up and recycling in inner city neighborhoods. Grant is shown at left with several Common Ground students.
School vacation came at an opportune time, as many kids joined their parents and grandparents to soak up the sun and the beauty of Beaver Pond Park at Tuesday’s tree-planting ceremony. It was a follow-up to an earlier event at which Grant and Barton received their awards.
Babz Rawls Ivy, the alderwoman of the 28th ward, which includes the park, was there with her children. She said neighbors made a commitment to clean up and protect the park about three years ago.
“They’ve been coming out here when the weather is nice, just fighting back the phragmites (an invasive reed that grows along shorelines in the area), planting, and it’s been a real community effort. So, this tree planting is really just an extension of Ed’s commitment to the community, and the neighborhood’s commitment to him and support of him,” Rawls Ivy said.
Does she ever come to the park when it’s not a special occasion, just to hang out?
“Oh, yeah, I got four kids. They love it. They can run around, they can see the geese, they can spot other animals and different kinds of flowers. We love it.”
Margeaux, 4, says her favorite thing is “to feed the geeses. I feed them bread and pretzels.” (This reporter promised not to tell the parks department.) Margeaux, waving an errant phragmites plume, stood still long enough to join her siblings (at left) Khailil, 4 (hugging her), Gregory,7, and Briana, 9, for a photo.
The conversation was punctuated by many bursts of gunfire, about a quarter-mile away, from the city’s firing range. Rawls Ivy said, “I was going to call and say not to do it during the ceremony, but I decided I want people to know how annoying it is for people during the day. We’ve been working with the New Haven Police Department and the training academy to come to some harmonious result. So there are a number of things we’re looking at to resolve that issue. But it is unsettling, especially if you have kids, and there’s a school [Jackie Robinson] right there.”
Nan Bartow, a leader of the Friends of Beaver Pond Park, piped up, “You come here for a quiet experience and that’s what you get.”
Ed Grant was pleased with the honor and the tree. “It’s something you never expect to happen, but you just go on and do the good work you need to do in the community, and these are the things that come out of it.” He lives in Westville now, but he was raised in the Dixwell neighborhood and raised his family there.
Will he come to the park and watch his tree blossom? “Oh yeah, I spend time down here constantly anyhow, making sure the flowers and shrubbery are growing and keeping the pond open. We’re talking about stocking the pond, but there are problems with stocking it because the water is run-off water, and the fish die. The water has a lot of chemicals in it, from lawns and pavement. We have to keep working with the community to make sure everything’s all right.”
Grant got right down to the business of enjoying the park, taking advantage of the beautiful day and the available park bench to share some camaraderie with an old friend, Philip Clinton.