Vision Greenwood Park, a volunteer group that is working with the city and community to improve the park, is hosting its winter fundraiser from 2-5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 27, at the Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N. 85th St.

Participants can listen to an urban bird talk and build a birdhouse to display either at the park or in their own yard.

Starting at 2 p.m., Mike Stringer, Chair of VGP, will update neighbors on the status of park improvements. Then, Sandra Woods will give a shot talk about urban birds, their habitat and the value of birds in our backyards and parks.

The birdhouse workshop starts at 3 p.m. VGP will supply basic building materials, but you can bring your own creative ideas and found objects to personalize your birdhouse. VGP organizers say this is a family-friendly project that includes hammering, drilling, gluing and painting.

The suggested donation is $25 per person to build one birdhouse, or $40 for a family to build two birdhouses.

Please RSVP to visiongreenwood@gmail.com to reserve a birdhouse.

Attendees are invited to hang their birdhouses in the soon-to-be constructed Greenwood Park Community Garden in the currently empty lot along Fremont Avenue. In the Fall of 2010 volunteers cleared the lot preparing it for development of 30-40 raised garden beds.

This Spring VGP will hold several volunteer work parties as well as hire contractors to build the new Greenwood Community Garden. Thanks to a matching grant from the City, the project is underway with construction documents being drawn up by local landscape architect Site Workshop. Birdhouses will decorate the Community Garden upon its completion this summer.

Volunteers continue to work on the new community garden at Greenwood Park. Vision Greenwood Park, a volunteer group, is organizing the work parties at the park, located between Fremont and Evanston avenues north of 87th Street. Dozens of volunteers at a  previous work party in September began clearing the brush.

From Vision Greenwood’s Cassandra Allen:

In between rain squalls, volunteers were guided by Joanna D’Asaro a fellow volunteer and local landscape architect from Greener Living Solutions. They constructed a fence frame that was then filled by the north lot’s cleared tree branches and shrubbery. Materials for the frame were provided by Dunn Lumber to the group at a discount. As the fence grew from the ground up, volunteers intertwined rhododendron, yew and cedar branches in layers giving it a lovely layering of green and brown. Joanna’s design of the twig fence provides a natural-looking, visual barrier with recycled materials.

“We came up with the concept of the twig fence with the hope of constructing something that will be esthetically pleasing, easy to maintain and easy to assemble. It met all those goals and brought the community together for four hours,” said Mike Stringer, Chair of the Vision Greenwood Park volunteer group, “We appreciate the local business and neighborhood support we’re receiving!”

Volunteers enjoyed pizza donated by Stacia’s Gourmet Pizza during a break while they discussed plans for building a shed for the garden in early 2011. The goal is to open the community garden to planting in the Spring. To volunteer, contribute and find out what’s happening at Greenwood Park, visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/visiongreenwoodpark/

Photo by Jay Boynton.

More than two dozen volunteers gathered at Greenwood Park on North 87th Street between Evanston and Fremont avenues last weekend to begin building a community garden.

Vision Greenwood Park organizer Cassandra Allen reports the group spent four hours cutting overgrown bushes and tearing down old fences between the current park and vacant lots that the Seattle Parks Department purchased to expand the park.

Vision Greenwood Park recently received a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods to support construction of the community garden. Greenwood Park’s community garden is designed to be universally accessible and create a space where teens from the North Seattle Boys and Girls Club can work next to members of the Greenwood Senior Center, and neighbors can grow local, organic produce for themselves and the Greenwood Food Bank.

“It was great to see Dads with their daughters shoveling out the fence posts and working with their neighbors. This is exactly why we are doing this—to meet our neighbors and build something wonderful for our community,” commented Mike Stringer, chair of the volunteer group and coordinator of the work party.

The next work party will be from 12-4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 24.

(All photos by Jay Boynton. See more on his flickr page.)

Volunteers with Vision Greenwood Park are having their first work party to start building a community garden from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (rain or shine.) They’ll provide coffee and snacks. Greenwood Park is at 602 N. 87th St.

Vision Greenwood Park has received a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods to support construction of the community garden. The ‘matching’ part means that for every $1 of the grant, we have to supply $1 in volunteer labor or donations. This creates the opportunity to build community and neighborhood ownership while we build the garden.

Come out to help and meet your neighbors and make new friends. If you want a plot in the garden, the P-Patch program will give priority to people who have put volunteer hours into building it.

Please RSVP to so they can arrange enough coffee and tools.

The new community garden will be built in an undeveloped lot next to the east side of the park.

We couldn’t make it to Sunday’s Party in Greenwood Park, but Cassandra Allen and Mike Stringer sent us this report. Thanks Cassandra and Mike!

And thanks to Greenwood photographer Jay Boynton for the photos!

Residents from all over Greenwood came to the 2nd annual party in Greenwood Park. The band Pickled Okra played lively blue grass tunes and a barbecue featured donated food from eight local restaurants and grocery stores. The event celebrated the expansion of Greenwood Park to include two new lots along Fremont Avenue. Mayor Michael McGinn told the crowd, “When I go around the City and see the parks and projects going on in the neighborhoods, they are driven by committed volunteers. Volunteers are what make neighborhoods great. It is all of your time and talents that will make this park and Greenwood one of the best in the City.”

The party in the park was organized by Vision Greenwood Park, a neighborhood group that has formed to lead the community effort to expand the park. Cassandra Allen and Joanna D’Asaro co-organized the event. They were supported by a crew of twelve volunteers who procured donations, cooked burgers and hot dogs and staffed the event all afternoon.

The park expansion project includes a community garden, barbecue grills, and a multi-sport courtyard for basketball, soccer, street hockey, and skating. “We are happy to announce that Vision Greenwood Park has received a $60,000 grant from the Neighborhood Matching Fund,” said steering committee chair Michael Stringer. “As part of the matching contribution for this grant, we are raising money today, and will organize volunteer work parties to help build a community garden.” The first work party is scheduled for Saturday, September 25, from 10 AM to 2 PM. The first task will be to remove old fencing that currently blocks views across the park will open space for future garden plots.

The Party in the Park was a fundraiser as well as a celebration and raised nearly $2,000 in cash donations to support expansion of the park. Part of the fundraiser was a silent auction that featured donated gifts and services from nearly 30 local businesses plus the opportunity to have coffee with Mayor McGinn.

Donors to the event included:
- Phinney Neighborhood Association (donating the 3% transaction fee on all credit card payments!)
- Better Meats
- Mr. Gyros
- Gorditos
- Game Time popcorn
- Snoose Junction
- Lenny’s Market
- Molly Moon
- Pickled Okra
- Sip and Ship
- Top Ten Toys
- Gary’s Auto
- Fatty’s Pizza
- Boynton Photography
- Chocolati
- Wheatless in Seattle
- Whole Life Yoga
- Monkey Grind Espresso
- Pola Belle nail salon
- Rhea Healing Essential
- Terra Bella organic florist
- Carmelita’s Restaurant
- Gary’s Games
- Green Bean Coffee
- The Lash and Wax Boutique
- Seattle Mariners
- Spa Mama Seattle
- Georgia’s Greek Restaurant & Deli
- Romio’s of Greenwood
- Ken’s Market
- Greenwood Market
- Fred Meyer
- Safeway

The annual Party in Greenwood Park is 12-4 p.m. this Sunday, with party-goers able to see the most recent park improvement plans and helping to raise funds to match the Neighborhood Matching Fund grant of $60,000.

Neighbors look over preliminary designs at last year’s Greenwood Park Party.

Greenwood Park is on North 87th Street between Evanston and Fremont avenues. The party is put on by Vision Greenwood Park, a volunteer group of neighbors. The party will feature, live music by Pickled Okra, food from local restaurants (Mr. Gyros, Better Meats, Snoose Junction, Lenny’s Market and Molly Moon’s), a silent auction and the most recent design plans presented by Site Workshop.

A donation of $10 for adults and $5 for children is suggested to help raise funds for the park.

The new Park features will appeal to different age groups, especially seniors and teens that are drawn to this area by the Greenwood Senior Center and North Seattle Boys and Girls Club. The project will also improve lines of sight and foster increased positive activity at the park to improve safety.

The major elements of the plan include:

Community Garden—designed to be universally accessible, the garden will create a space where teens from the North Seattle Boys and Girls Club can work next to members of the Greenwood Senior Center, and neighbors can grow local, organic produce for themselves and the Greenwood Food Bank.

Basketball Courtyard—located across the street from the Boys and Girls Club, an informal basketball court will provide much needed recreation activities for teens in the Park.

Start-Gazing Themed Gathering Plaza—creating a space for community events, live music, and barbecues.

Skate-friendly Design—the hardscapes of the basketball court and plaza will be designed to create multi-functional spaces including elements suitable for skateboarding.

Party attendees can vie for silent auction goodies from:

• Gary’s Auto
• Lenny’s Market
• Fattys Pizza
• Snoose Junction Pizza
• Chocolati
• Wheatless in Seattle
• Whole Life Yoga
• The Pola Belle
• Rhea Healing Essential
• Terra Bella
• Top Ten Toys
• Mayor McGinn
• Sip and Ship
• Gary’s Games
• Green Bean Coffee
• The Lash and Wax BoutiqueMariners
• Monkey Grind Espresso
• Game Time Foods
• Sensaria Natural Bodycare
• Better Meats
• Fred Meyer
• Greenwood Market
• Gorditos

A project in Greenwood will receive a big financial boost from the city’s Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund. The City Council has approved $1.24 million in awards to support neighborhood projects across Seattle. The funding matches privately raised money, donated materials, and volunteer labor.

Vision Greenwood Park won $60,000 to build a community garden in an undeveloped portion of Greenwood Park. The garden will be designed to fit into the existing park and be accessible for all ages.

You can see a full list of this year’s winners here.

The community is invited to attend an open house to learn more about the expansion plans for Greenwood Park, which is between Fremont and Evanston avenues and North 87th and 89th streets.

The volunteer group Vision Greenwood Park is hosting the open house from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday at the North Seattle Boys & Girls Club, 8635 Fremont Ave N. It will be facilitated by Site Workshop, a Seattle-based landscape architecture firm.

This meeting builds on the work conducted last year to create a conceptual plan for expanding Greenwood Park. The community is capitalizing on the opportunity to expand the Park into two adjacent properties recently acquired by Seattle Parks and Recreation. The new features will appeal to different age groups, especially seniors and teens who are drawn to this area by the Greenwood Senior Center and North Seattle Boys and Girls Club. The project will also improve lines of sight and foster increased positive activity at the Park to improve safety.

The major elements of the plan (.pdf) include:

• Community Garden—designed to be universally accessible, the garden will create
  a space where teens from the North Seattle Boys and Girls Club can work next to
  members of the Greenwood Senior Center, and neighbors can grow local, organic
  produce for themselves and the Greenwood Food Bank.
• Basketball Courtyard—located across the street from the Boys and Girls Club,
  an informal basketball court will provide much needed recreation activities for
  teens in the Park.
• Star-Gazing Themed Gathering Plaza—creating a space for community events, live
  music, and barbecues.
• Skate-friendly Design—the hardscapes of the basketball court and plaza will be
  designed to create multi-functional spaces including elements suitable for skateboarding.

The Vision Greenwood Park Steering committee is asking for people to volunteer hours for the park’s improvements that will happen soon.

We need your help to make the expansion and enhancement a reality by pledging volunteer hours; these volunteer hours are an important component of our grant requirements. Please complete this 3 minute survey to indicate your willingness to volunteer. We especially welcome your input between now and Sunday, April 11th at 5pm.