Village Condominium Association

The Swan Boats are Swimming Again!
by J. F. Weiler

Things are popping in Boston's parks. For me, a Swan Boat ride helps celebrate the spring season. The Paget family has been operating the Swan Boats, icons of the Public Garden, since 1877! Soon the real swans Romeo and Juliet will be swimming in the lagoon again. The Make Way for Ducklings bronze sculptures are still changing their outfits, most recently shedding their Easter Bonnets for Marathon runner numbers. And new this year is an old-time carousel near the Frog Pond on Boston Common!

Cuttings

Village gardeners will need to get out their watering cans! This year’s precipitation is 20% of normal and the soil is powdery dry. (As I write this it is raining! But it will be a dry year.)

To join the Village Garden Committee please phone Debby at 617-923-1684 or email me at WeilerPhotoGallery@comcast.net

The Missing Link

Frederick Law Olmsted, the famous Boston landscape designer, strongly believed that flower gardens, trees and park landscapes were essential for the public to relax and unwind in.  His concern for public health drove his efforts in creating the Emerald Necklace, Boston’s premier park. 

“Columbia Road: The Missing Link,” a photo essay by Joseph Flack Weiler, offers a solution for Olmsted’s uncompleted plan to connect Marine Park and Franklin Park. Connecting the “Missing Link” would complete Olmsted’s 1880s Emerald Necklace.

This photo essay will be part of an exhibit by the Olmsted House National Historic Site to be shown at the Public Library of Brookline from May 9th to June 6th. For more information phone 617-730-2370 or go to www.BrooklineLibrary.org or www.nps.gov/frla.

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Written for the May 2012 Village Newsletter.