From the Community

Jamaica Plain’s Christine Poff Wins Landscape Design Council Award

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The Landscape Design Council (LDC) of Massachusetts has recognized Jamaica Plain's Christine Poff, the director of Boston's Community Preservation Committee, as a 2018 awardee for excellence in the field of landscape design. Poff is the 2018 recipient of the Landscape Design Council Award for Excellence, given in recognition of outstanding civic accomplishment. “Throughout her career, Christine has worked in many ways to make life better for citizens,” said LDC chairman George Papavasiliou, via press release. “We particularly applaud her efforts on behalf of Boston’s Franklin Park and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, which stand out as supportive of the Landscape Design Council’s mission.”

As political director of the National Association of Social Workers, Poff advocated for economic and social justice bills at the Massachusetts State House, but she is likely better known for her 14 years’ service as executive director of the Franklin Park Coalition, a nonprofit organization that gives a community voice to Boston’s Franklin Park. She worked to bring back such beloved park institutions as the Elma Lewis Playhouse, the FPC Youth Crew, and the annual Kite and Bike Festival.

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Neighborhood Life

You’re Invited: Community Preservation Act Forum in JP on April 3

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Boston has an additional $20 million this year to fund affordable housing, parks, open space and historic preservation thanks to the Community Preservation Act. On April 3rd, the Jamaica Plain community is invited to a public forum to share their ideas on how to spend that money. The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) organized and will lead the forum with a host of elected officials sponsoring the event and local organizations as co-sponsors. Boston adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA) by voting in support of it in November 2016. More than 170 Massachusetts municipalities have adopted the CPA, according to the Community Preservation Coalition.

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Neighborhood Life

Survey: What Do You See for the Future of Franklin Park?

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As part of Imagine Boston 2030, the city held a meeting last week to gather feedback from residents on what they want for the future of Franklin Park. But don't worry: If you couldn't attend the meeting, there is an online survey you can fill out. The Feb. 16 meeting was organized by the city as part of its Imagine Boston 2030 initiative, in conjunction with the Boston Parks and Recreation departments and the Franklin Park Coalition. Representatives from the Emerald Necklace Conservancy were also in attendance and tweeted a photo of the meeting showing it was a packed house.

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Arts

A Hundred Kids Build Fairy Houses in Franklin Park

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It was glorious mild spring Thursday at Schoolmaster Hill in Franklin Park for the Third Annual Fairy House Building Workshop sponsored by the Boston Parks Department and the Franklin Park Coalition. Over a hundred boys and girls scampered over the drumlin collecting branches, leaves and cones to build houses for the magical woodland creatures that reappear in the springtime in New England fields and woods. Storytelling and books from Read Boston and the MassHort plant education tent were also on hand as well as face painting. The workshop showed kids of all ages how to have fun simply using natural items that are just lying around on the park floor under trees and shrubs.

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File photo: Christine Poff, right, enjoys Franklin Park with a Franklin Park Coalition board member.
Jamaica Plain People

‘Christine is Always Ready for a Fight’ — Franklin Park Boosters Fete Longtime Park Advocate Christine Poff

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More than 100 people turned out Wednesday to honor the 10-year tenure of JP's Christine Poff as executive director of the Franklin Park Coalition. Poff stepped down from her longtime post in the fall, but Wednesday's party marked a homecoming as a roomful of folks who love the city's largest park celebrated her energy and accomplishments. "She's done incredible work as head of the Franklin Park Coalition," said Mayor Marty Walsh, who brought with him as a gift a reproduction historical map of the mammoth park that connects JP, Roxbury and Dorchester. Walsh and others cataloged Poff's series of accomplishments, ranging from reinvigorating youth programs to pushing City Hall to invest in Franklin Park. She saw to the re-invigoration of the Elma Lewis Playhouse in the Park concerts and performances and revived the Kite & Bike Festival, among many other efforts.

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