Friends of Mounds Park annual meeting scheduled for October 9

Mark your calendar - the annual meeting of the Friends of Mounds Park (FOMP) is coming up Sunday, October 9 at 5 pm at Cerenity Senior Care – Marian of Saint Paul, located at 200 Earl Street. The third annual meeting of the group will begin with a community potluck followed by the business meeting at 6 pm. Families are welcome to attend and childcare will be provided during the business meeting portion of the evening.

The agenda for the meeting will include a review of the past year’s activities including the recently completed master plan for the park, a financial report, a discussion about setting priorities for the coming year and finally the election of officers for the organization and volunteer assignments.

The organization was founded three years ago by neighbors who recognized the potential for improvement and wanted to have a voice in decisions about the future of the park. When it was discovered that, unlike all other major parks in St. Paul, the park did not have master plan but was only a footnote in Battle Creek Park’s 1978 plan, the group began a campaign to advocate for the creation of a master plan. The city took note and devoted resources to the planning process, which began last summer and was completed this past winter at a community open house to review the plan. The plan became official when after a series of approvals ranging from the Parks Commission to the City Council, it received the final stamp of approval from the Metropolitan Council in August.

Friends of Mounds Park is a membership-based organization, and all current and potential members are invited to attend the annual meeting. Membership in FOMP is open to anyone. The annual “cost” of membership is either a financial contribution ($30 for individual, $45 for households, $10 for senior citizens and $100 for businesses) or a volunteer commitment of 15 hours of volunteer activity. Volunteer activity includes participation in park maintenance and clean-up events and assisting with other FOMP events and activities.

For more regular updates, visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/MoundsParkFriends

Two events scheduled for Mounds Park in August

Mark you calendars for these two events in August. Friends of Mounds Park is sponsoring the annual National Night Out party on Tuesday, August 2, starting at 6 pm. This annual tradition features music, food and neighborhood fun. Located on Earl Street between Thorn and Mounds Boulevard, we will be trying out one of the features included in the park's new the Master Plan - making Earl a convertible street. While the improvement has not been made yet, the idea is to use Earl Street as a community plaza that can be closed to traffic and used as a gathering space for special events. Come check it out and see what you think.

Then, on Monday August 8 at 7 pm there will be a live puppet show at the Mounds Park Pavilion (at Mounds Blvd and Earl Street). "Cow Boat" will be presented by Open Eye Figure Theatre as part of their summer-long Driveway Tour. What is the Driveway Tour? The Driveway Tour brings original, family-friendly theater directly into people’s neighborhoods, developing grassroots community involvement by way of an economically accessible theatrical event. Since 2003, the Driveway Tour has reached 33,000 people in more than 450 neighborhoods. All Driveway Tour performances are free and open to the public.Bring chairs or blankets along to enjoy this free 30-minute live puppet show, appropriate for all ages. This free event does rely partially on donations and will include passing the hat after the show. This event is sponsored by ECFE and Friends of Mounds Park.

More about the show:
The Amazing Cow Boat
(Created and performed by Liz Schachterle and Andy Kraft, Music by Susan Haas)
Taking a bath will never be the same for audiences after seeing the all-new The Amazing Cow Boat! Told through a giant pop-up book with puppets, songs, and surprises, the show is the story of Charlie who, while taking a bath, sails away in his imagination in search of treasure. Traveling in his boat that amazingly is also a cow, he encounters pirates, a sea turtle, a whale, and the moon.

Master Plan completed

Thank you to everyone who attended the open house this winter to review and give feedback on the master plan for Mounds Park! There were more than 100 people that turned out for this event, on nearly the coldest night of the year. It was a great show of support.

Now the master plan has been completed, and has been approved by the Community Council and then the Parks Commission on May 11. The next step is city council approval and finally the Met Council should give its stamp of approval. This is great progress from our previous position of having no master plan for Indian Mounds Park.

The master plan is available for review on the city's web site if you missed the open house or want to look at the current final product. This is a link to the page with all of the information from the planning process: http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=4036 If you scroll down to meeting #8, you will see a link to the master plan and a master plan summary.

In other news, it's summer time! Our favorite season for enjoying Indian Mounds Park. Look for a new post soon with some fun activities planned for summer in the park.

Open House for Master Plan review and input

A task force that includes St. Paul Parks and Rec staff and representatives of Friends of Mounds Park and others has been working on a Master Plan for Indian Mounds Park since August 2010. A primary goal of this effort is to create a first-ever, long-term vision for the park.

The task force is having an open house on Thursday January 20, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Cerenity Senior Care – Marian of St. Paul to share the work that has been done so far. (Please use the polling place entrance that faces Frank Street.)
It is critically important that we have strong community participation in this open house, not only so that the final plan includes your input and feedback, but significant engagement from our community will demonstrate that citizens are paying attention to this process and help ensure that the final plan is implemented.

If you can’t make it, you can email your ideas to Kathleen Anglo at Kathleen.anglo@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Friends of Mounds Park was formed about two years ago as a grass-roots effort to advocate for improving and preserving the park. Its top priority has been the Master Plan, and when that is complete, it will work on implementation of the plan. Are you interested in becoming a member? Membership is available for an annual financial or volunteer time commitment. More information is available on our web site www.friendsofmoundspark.org under the membership tab or contact Stephanie Harr (harr.stephanie@gmail.com) or Kara Younkin (karayounkin@gmail.com).

Save the date - Indian Mounds Park master plan preview

On Thursday, January 20 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, the preliminary plans for the long-term development of Mounds Park will be on display at Cerenity Care Center for community input and feedback. Don't miss this opportunity!

2010 Annual Meeting - September 26

The Friends of Mounds Park 2010 Annual meeting is scheduled for Sunday, September 26, at 6 pm. The meeting will be held at the Cerenity Care Center on Thorn Street at Earl. Current and prospective members are welcome to attend, although only current members are entitled to vote.

Agenda for the meeting will include:

• Overview of park master planning process and progress to date
• financial report
• setting goals for 2011
• election of new officers

Welcome

Welcome to the Friends of Mounds Park website events page. We will use this page to keep you updated on current and upcoming events in Mounds Park. Check back often for updates or become a follower of this blog. Thank you for visiting.