I am excited about the cleanup at Strawberry Park this week, on Wednesday starting at 3PM. I called one of the organizers, Antonio, who is a street outreach worker, to see how I could get involved. "Show up," he said and chuckled. Antonio is just one of many people who refuse to give up by giving back to the community. (See Amanda's blog post "Volunteers Needed for Park Restoration" to find out how to get involved.)   Strawberry Park is on Strawberry Ave. between Western Ave. and Boston St. near the Stop & Shop.

You may have read about Strawberry Park in the Lynn Item. A while ago, the city decided that taking down the basketball hoops would make the park less of an attraction to gangs. I really don't see how this follows, and it also deprives good kids of a place to hang out and stay active. So a group of citizens is taking the park back by cleaning it up, painting over the grafitti, and painting a mural on the basketball court. It is hoped that once the city sees the lengths to which residents are willing to go, the hoops will be put back up.

It is hard work reclaiming territory ceded to gangs. It's going to take constant, prolonged vigilance. Not that I would know, but Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr told me about his neighborhood's long drawn and frustrating but ultimately successful efforts to reclaim a park near the Lynn Swampscott line.

At the May 17th neighborhood clean-up, recruiter Joe Divencenzo stands ready to inform prospective Bigs and Littles about the mentoring program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay.

For more pictures of the May 17th Taking Pride in Lynn Neighborhood clean-up, click here.

  

We couldn't have had a successful neighborhood cleanup without the help of everyone who participated, first and foremost, the residents of Lynn who gave up their Saturday morning to improve the neighborhood.

Special thanks to our sponsors, who funded the event:
SCI Lynn
Mayor Chip Clancy and the city of Lynn
Ward 3 Neighborhood Association

These socially responsible businesses also made contributions:
Harrington Trophy printed and donated 50 "Taking Pride in Lynn" T-shirts at the last minute
the 7-11 on Chestnut St. and Essex provided gatorade and water
Nina's Convenience Store supplied work gloves
Osborne Pharmacy also supplied work gloves
Lynn Meatland provided subs and potato chips for lunch
Brothers Deli sent a tray of chicken salad
Pizza Lovers provided 2 pizzas

The following people and organizations donated their time, effort and expertise. Check out their links!

Girls, Inc.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Lynn
Highlands Coalition
Department of Public Works
Lynn Lumber
The Food Project
Lynn Time Bank
Calvin Anderson
Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr
the Lynn Police Department
Massachusetts Trial Court Community Service Program
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay

I would also like to thank Kimberlee Powers, principal of the Ingalls school, for letting us use the schoolyard, and the Custodian's Union for giving us access to electrical power on a Saturday.

On the morning of May 17, residents of Lynn cooperated to beautify their city. With a helping hand from the DPW and the state's Community Service program, they swept, raked and shoveled an estimated 30 bags of trash. Everything from scratched lottery tickets to an abandoned car seat, fast food wrappers to rusted shopping carts. Residents can take pride in a much cleaner neighborhood.

The area of Lynn around the Ingalls school, from Fayette St. to Chatham, and from Essex St. to Timson is much improved. Volunteers included homeowners, renters, and youth from the Food Project, Girls Inc., Boys and Girls Club, and SCI Lynn. Afterwards, they celebrated their efforts with camaraderie and lunch donated by socially responsible businesses in Lynn.

Big Brothers Big Sisters was on site, recruiting Bigs for one-to-one mentoring relationships with at-risk youth. The DPW showed up to promote recycling. Thirty new trash barrels were distributed to residents who came with their old, deteriorating ones.

The clean-up was a success because of the many people it brought together, working toward a common purpose. Some of these people met for the first time and found they shared a common interest. Others have been friends for a while, and bonded further over the course of the day. The cynic might say that the impact was minimal, that we didn't make much of a difference in the long run. The idealist would say that all change must start somewhere. A first step has been taken.

The neighborhood cleanup is fast approaching. It is tentatively scheduled for the 2nd Saturday of May.  read more »

 read more »