Join our FOGP Facebook Group

We primarily push updates to the Friends of Goodwin Park community via our Facebook Group. 

Please follow us there, and join one of our upcoming events. 

If you would like to send us a message, you can do from the Facebook Group, or via email at FOGPHartford@gmail.com. 

Thanks!

FOGP

https://www.facebook.com/friendsofgoodwinpark

We Are Back - Sort of

You will find the most up to date info about Friends of Goodwin Park on our face book page.  Please check us out there and like us so that you will always see the latest news from us.

The value of this site is that it contains "all you need to know" about us: mission, accomplishments, etc.  We will also use this site to "archive" important information about FOGP and our activities.

Latest News

Because of the virus,  we are not holding public member meetings at this time.  However, the board is meeting monthly via zoom so that we can continue identifying and advocating issues of concern at the park.

This Year's Priorities

(1) Preventing further erosion of turf between the playing field and the inner gate.

Due to years of illegal parking in this area, the stretch of land from the paved path to the ball field to the inner gate is now dirt or mud depending on the weather. Additionally, it is the repository for excessive littering/dumping.  

The city has agreed to create a parking area 20 feet deep and 120 feet long by placing large stones as barriers to the grass and covering the dirt with processed asphalt.  For the next 75 foot stretch - from the defined parking area up to the gate - the city will place large rocks at the edge of the area to prevent intrusion and a cement bell to prevent people from driving around the gate.  FOGP will be in contact with the city until this work is completed.

(2) Restoring the Wildflower Meadow

Last year, with new personnel in place, the city accidently destroyed the wildflower meadow located just past the inner gate as you enter from Maple Ave. This was done to  convert the area into a parking lot so that organized athletic teams would be able to park during their games.  When informed, the city promptly cancelled that project and agreed to work with us to restore the meadow.  No progress was made last year, so we have once again initiated efforts to get the city - with our help - to restore the meadow.  (More on the meadow at a later date including steps taken and benefits to the park and to the community.) 

Fast Pitch Softball in Goodwin park

Azucareros d Hartford is now using Goodwin Park for home games on alternate Saturdays.  The team members, all from Hartford, bring their families to watch and cheer them on. This makes for a family friendly environment with lots of love and laughter as team members warm up, don uniforms and play ball.  The next game will be Saturday, July 1.  Games are slated for 1:00pm but are more likely to start later than that.  Bring a picnic lunch, meet team members and enjoy!

Wild Kingdom

Wild Kingdom: Doing More With Less To Keep Hartford's 26 Parks In Shape
David Halohan, Hartford Courant, April 25, 2017

Tom Baptist, who is Hartford's Department of Public Works Superintendent in charge of parks, cemeteries and athletic fields, views the city as a wild kingdom. His job is to get its biologically diverse parks ready for the various species — including Homo sapiens (taxpayers) and Vireo olivaceus (red-eyed vireos) — which flock to them each spring.

Keep Our Park Clean

Though littering and dumping of trash in the park have decreased over the last five years, it still remains a problem.  If you see overflowing trash cans, areas where trash and other items -like the couch that was recently deposited in the parking area near the  playground - have been dumped please call 311.  Report what you see and give the location in the park.  The city's department of public works will respond as soon as possible.  (Keep in mind that the department is operating with a significantly reduced workforce.)

February 2, 2017
Though we are in the midst of winter, I am looking forward to spring when we will see the results of work by FOGP in 2016: even more daffodils at the Maple Avenue and Hubbard Road entrances and the first wildflower sprouts in the meadow we are creating.  We hope these additions increase your enjoyment of the park.

HELLO from FOGP

Greetings and best wishes from the Friends of Goodwin Park.  We have been absent from social media for several months but aim for better communications in 2017.  Members of FOGP take a break during the winter month, but regular meetings will resume in the spring.  In the mean time, the board is reviewing accomplishments for 2016 (we will publish them soon) and looking ahead to 2017.  And don't forget - Goodwin Park is a great place to walk -even in the winter!

Mark your calendars!
Join us on Monday, May 16, 7-8pm
for dessert, beverages and door prizes.
Meet at the Birdie Café, the new restaurant
at the golf course in Goodwin Park.

SUNSET IN GOODWIN PARK

S

APRIL MEETING RE-SCHEDULED


Our April meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 19 at 7PM at the pond house.  All are welcome!

ANOTHER REASON TO VISIT GOODWIN PARK


THE BIRDIE CAFE, located in the renovated clubhouse at the golf course will open at 7AM
 on April 1.  The Cafe provides a new venue in the neighborhood for breakfast, lunch and desserts with a view over the golf course, the pond and the hills to the east.  Check out the Cafe's facebook page for more details. 

Trails Through the Woods Now Open

If you are one of the folks who enjoys walking the trails in Goodwin Park you will be happy to know that both trails have been cleared of downed limbs and leaves and are ready for you to enjoy.  Thank you to Friends of Goodwin Park volunteer Jon Ney for his work to make this happen,

You can access the Hubbard Road Trail from the closed section of the roadway north of the pond house. Look for the sign on the east side of the roadway. 

You can access the Jordan Lane Trail from
the south side of the roadway just past the Jordan Lane entrance gate.

SAVE THE DATES

Join us on Friday, March 18 from 11:00-1:00 for the season's first clean up of Goodwin Park.  Wear gloves and bring a litter pick if you have one.  Use the Maple Avenue entrance and park in the area near the playground.  We will meet there, divide into teams of two, and focus our efforts on the wooded areas adjacent to the roadway.  Refreshments will follow at the pond house.

We resume our regular monthly meetings on Monday, March 21 from 7:00-8:30 at the pond house.  All are welcome - please join us to learn what is in store for the coming season. 

Please send an email to mmcatee04@aol.com if you plan to help with clean up or if you have questions.  Thank you.

Cloud Dust 

Clouds shake white dust down,
All the trees turned to snowmen,
Their eyes made of ice.

by Writer Fox.

Why walk in Goodwin Park?

Charles Dickens wrote this about walking:  "The sum of the whole is this:walk and be happy; walk and be healthy.

Have you wondered?

Have you wondered what is happening with that tract of land just beyond the ball field?  You know the one - it used to be a gravel parking lot that was often used by thoughtless people as a dumping ground. At various time one might have seen old carpets, furniture, tires, even a burned out car!  The Friends of Goodwin Park, along with the city department of public works (DPW), is turning that "parking lot" into a bit of "paradise." Progress to date includes removing the old gravel and asphalt, removing the weeds and planting winter rye as a cover crop.  In the spring, we will plow under the winter rye and either plant one more season of rye or, if the ground is ready, sow seeds to create a meadow - one that will require minimal maintenance but will attract birds, butterflies, bees and other small critters.  And that's a good thing.

Restored Hartford Golf Course Gives Public a Place to Play, Jobs for Residents

Thanks, WNPR for this wonderful piece. And of course, the accompanying video:

MassLive.com: Goodwin Park, Keney Park on Course for Stunning Revival

Hartford municipals Goodwin Park, Keney Park on course for stunning revival - MassLive.com

In the South End, Goodwin Park GC is open and fully-operational as a playable, but challenging 27-hole daily-fee facility.

To the north, Keney Park GC is undergoing a massive renovation with plans to open nine of its 18 holes this summer and the rest a month later.

"This has all been a team effort, the city has rallied around this . . . and we have great momentum,'' said Tom Baptist, who is responsible for day-to-day oversight of golf operations as superintendent of Public Works in Hartford.

Segarra Touts Investments, Growth In State Of City Speech

Hartford Courant article, here.

...Instead, Segarra focused on long-term investments in all corners of the city, from $700,000 to rehabilitate the Goodwin Park golf course in the South End to a proposed $68 million in this year's capital improvement budget toward future renovations at M.L. King School in north Hartford...

Landscaping and Winter Clean-up

The absence of the snow allowed DPW to finish up leaf removal with several crews working throughout the park in December and early January to get the task completed.  More recently crews turned their attention to the wooded areas of the park including sections of the golf course.  Trees that are damaged or diseased are being cut down.  Underbrush and fallen trees are being removed along Ridge Road.  A few trees have been removed from the golf course in order to improve some greens and fairways in the important effort of revitalizing the golf course.  All of the work is being completed under the direction of an arborist.