This story was published in collaboration with Meghan E. Irons’ Reporting in Depth class at Boston University’s College of Communication.
Neighbors gathered at Griggs Park on Saturday to clean out invasive species and plant new bulbs at the yearly “Eat Rake Play” event.
“We want to both improve the park and bring neighbors together in order to have some fun, build community and enjoy one of the last really nice weekends for the season,” said Jessica Lang, one of four co-chairs of the Griggs Park Neighborhood Association, who organized the event.
The gathering in Griggs Park is a long-standing annual event, said Sushma Boppana, another co-chair.
Typically, the clean-up is followed by a block party with music, games, food and refreshments. But this year, the party was canceled at the last minute. In light of the terrorist attack in Israel and the subsequent war declared earlier in the week, a celebration “felt a little off-tone,” Lang said.
The neighborhood association considered canceling the event altogether, but ultimately, “we felt that this was a constructive thing to do at a time when many of us are feeling helpless,” said Len Fishman, another co-chair, during his welcoming remarks.
The event began at 10 a.m. The sounds of children playing rang throughout Griggs Park, and a few dogs ran among the still-green trees.
Near the playground stood volunteer Pat Roberts, manning a table of donuts and coffee and a box of locally grown apples for attendees to enjoy.
Park ranger Emma Palermo piled rakes, trowels and other gardening tools next to a collection of toys bought for the children. After a welcoming announcement, Palermo took the crowd of volunteers around the perimeter of the park, pointing out invasive plants and explaining how to remove them.
Grapevines, for example, were choking the grove of trees in the center of the park, she said. A fence was crowded with Black Swallow-wort, which produces pods that look like milkweed and attract Monarch butterflies. But without real milkweed, the butterflies’ eggs don’t survive.
Removing weeds was especially important this year, explained Lang, because all the rain has helped invasive species.
Many attendees, like Jade Lopiccolo, live right next to the park. “It feels nice to contribute to keeping the park clean since we get to enjoy having a park right across the street,” said Lopiccolo.
Others, like Sarah Noked, said the park has given them a sense of community, and they jumped at the opportunity to give back. Noked said she brings her two children to Griggs Park every day after they finish day care, and finds a lively community of families who do the same.
“We consider it our backyard,” Noked said of the park. “We saw the signs [advertising this event] and thought we could help make the park prettier.”
Noked, who attended the Eat Rake Play event with her Israeli husband and their children, said she appreciated the gesture of canceling the block party. “There are times for celebrating and times for helping each other,” she said.
Palermo said the clean up project was smaller this year because Griggs Park is up for renovation in 2025. She said the design process will begin in late 2024 and encouraged lovers of the park to attend those meetings and offer their input.
“We want to hear everyone’s ideas,” she said.