Event: Earth Day Clean-up at Frog Park & Greenbelt- – Family-friendly
Date: Saturday, April 22, 2017
Time: 9a.m. – noon
Two meeting & sign-in locations:
– Corner of Cavour and Redondo OR
– Big Frog Play Structure (near Hardy Circle, corner of Hudson St and Claremont Ave)
We provide: Tools and gloves, snacks, coffee, and water.
What to bring: Hat, sunscreen lotion, and if you want, your well-marked gloves and tools.
Activities: Preserve pond and creek, sweep, dust spider webs, trim ivy, turnover fibar, sift sand, prune shrubs and trees, weed, pick-up trash with tool, install erosion mitigations, etc., and many kid-friendly tasks.
Community groups: DMV Neighbors Association & FROG Committee sponsor this annual event with the City of Oakland. Community businesses and individuals often donate food and beverages.
This winter in Northern California is on track to be the wettest in 122 years of record keeping, according to the National Weather Service. Looking around in Frog Park and along Temescal Creek, it’s not hard to believe. Everything is lush, green, and beautiful, and many of the shrubs and trees are looking healthier than they have in a long time. It’s a pleasure to see.
Another pleasure in the park is coming soon: Earth Day, Saturday, April 22. The many storms over the winter season have left behind a riot of weeds, much downed tree bark and many fallen branches, some erosion of the creek bed (made worse by foot and bicycle traffic), and generally plenty to do to tidy up before summer. Earth Day is our annual celebration of community care for the park and greenbelt.
The DMV Neighbors Association and the FROG Committee are jointly sponsoring the 2017 Earth Day cleanup, 9 a.m. to noon. Sign in at the table at Cavour and Redondo to work on the creek, greenbelt, and “Little Frog” (the tot park at Redondo and Clarke). Sign in at the table near the big play structure at “Big Frog” (Hardy Circle) to work on the pond, play areas, butterfly garden, and path. Come rake redwood duff out of the pond, sweep the greenbelt path, trim ivy, turn over the fibar (the soft material under the play structures at Big and Little Frog) prune overgrown shrubs and trees, weed the creek bed, cut back willow roots, pick up trash, and install the erosion mitigation barrier logs along a section of the creek south of Clifton.
Cleanup starts at 9 a.m. Tools and gloves will be provided, or bring your own, marked well as yours. Many tasks are kid-friendly. Parents or guardians must sign for volunteers under 18. Snacks, coffee, and drinks for volunteers will be at the tables, and water will be available. As always, remember your sunscreen. For more information, contact LeonoraSea@comcast.netor info@frogpark.org.
Be sure to check out the special events happening in the park this Earth Day in addition to the cleanup. Funded by a grant from Keep Oakland Beautiful, local artist, muralist, and teacher Caroline Stern will be painting a nature mural on one outer wall of the bathroom at Hardy Circle. You can see her drawing for the work in last month’s issue of the Rockridge News. At 11:30 a.m., there will be a celebration at “Big Frog” with Fremont Bank, a new park sponsor.