The Friends of Christopher Columbus Park (FOCCP), the all-volunteer, donor-funded booster organization for the park, will host a ceremony to plant two new dwarf crabapple trees in the park on Monday, May 6 at 10AM. The trees will be planted at the southwest entrance of the park, close to Quincy Market, replacing trees lost during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The new trees are fully funded by Sunstone Hotel Investors, owner of the adjacent building that houses the Marriott Long Wharf – Boston.Leading the tree-planting ceremony will be Toni Pollak, Boston’s Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, State Representative Aaron Michlewitz and Marriott Long Wharf General Manager Victor Aragona. “On behalf of Mayor Thomas M. Menino and other lovers of beautiful Christopher Columbus Park, we’d like to thank Sunstone Hotel Investors for providing these trees to replace the ones lost to Sandy,” said Toni Pollak. “This planting also symbolizes our longstanding partnership with The Friends of Christopher Columbus Park that grows every day through greening efforts such as this and a year-round schedule of events enjoyed by all.”
Joanne Hayes-Rines, president of the FOCCP, will host the Monday, May 6 event. “The Friends of Christopher Columbus Park group works hard to fund and create wonderful attractions in the park, such as the Winter Trellis lighting, the Columbus Day celebration, and Sunday Free Movie nights. We’re proud to work with and have the support of responsible and generous corporate sponsors like Sunstone to secure funding for critical park upgrades and repairs. Sunstone’s contribution serves as a great example of how corporate neighbors can invest in their community to improve neighborhood life while ultimately enriching their own businesses.”
The FOCCP is currently soliciting funding for several other park improvement initiatives, including the Urban Oasis Circle project that will revamp the southeast corner of the park. The FOCCP has been awarded two grants: a $20,000 Beautify Boston Grant and a $10,000 Blossom Fund Grant toward the project. “These grants put us about 1/3 of the way toward our fundraising goal for the project,” says Hayes-Rines. “FOCCP continues to look for additional contributions from neighbors and businesses for the balance.”
The Friends of Christopher Columbus Park (FOCCP) is an all-volunteer non-profit organization comprised of North End and Waterfront residents and businesses whose purpose is to further the restoration, protection, preservation, care, enhancement, improvement, and maintenance of the Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park. The FOCCP works closely with the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department to keep the park clean and well maintained, and with other city and state organizations to improve the park to enrich the lives of both residents and visitors to Boston.
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The current FOCCP officers are Joanne Hayes-Rines (President), Trish Baumer (Vice President), Virginia Kimball (Treasurer) and Audrey Tortolani (Clerk). Board members are Joe Bono, Ford Cavallari, Meghan Denenberg, Sandra Harcourt, Beverly Knight, Robyn Reed and Christina Sperry.
