Larry Franks, superman

I want to publicly thank Larry Franks for all of his work helping keep Overton Park good for the people who use it. Larry is Administrator of Maintenance for the Department of Park Services, and he's working hard to keep all the parks of Memphis running on an increasingly trimmed budget. He's been very responsive to requests for maintenance in the park. First I wrote and told him about broken water fountains and missing garbage cans. Everything was taken care of the next day. Then I wrote and asked him if we could catch the fish in Rainbow Lake as they drained it to do repair work. He was immediately responsive and worked with the Zoo curators to get that done, in spite of the fact that it threw off his work schedule on the project by most of two days.

Finally I wrote him a couple of days ago and asked about getting the Greensward mowed, since we were beginning to wade through a hayfield out there. The Dallas grass is the bane of my existence, both at home and in the park. I made the case that we don't need an army of weed-eaters every time -- if we could just keep the middle of the field knocked down, it would make a huge difference. Despite the fact that the city is now confined to a 25 day mowing cycle for parks because of the budget, he got someone out to mow the main field THAT DAY.

Thank you, Larry! Please thank the DPS employees when you see them in the park. They work hard and have tough circumstances on the job right now.

Golf Hours under further discussion

The CA has an article today on a recent meeting called because of continuing unhappiness among golfers over shorter course hours instituted July 1st. Mary Cashiola, my favorite local columnist and blogger, has a much more informative follow-up posted on the Memphis Flyer site.

Now Showing in the Old Forest

Elderberry berries, richly multicolored.
American Bellflower, still adorning forest after many weeks of blooming.

And Poke Sallet, with both white and dark berries on different stems. The forest is ever-changing, so come out and walk it and see what's new.

Fairgrounds envisioned as mostly park/green space

There's a new plan for the Fairgrounds on the table, championed by Robert Lipscomb, the CA reports today. Unlike the Henry Turley plan, which has more emphasis on retail and a big box store or two, this newer plan has much more green space and athletic fields. There is also some smaller retail, complementing what's available in Cooper Young and other neighboring areas, and some housing, but the focus is much more on family-centered outdoor activities.

With the momentum Shelby Farms has out east, it would be marvelous to see an expansion of green space and play areas for Midtown. The Fairgrounds is also tied to Overton Park by the Parkway system. Wouldn't it be great to have them linked by a foot and bike path again, as they were in the early days of the city? My grandmother used to rent a horse at the Fairgrounds and ride up the median of East Parkway and into the bridle paths in the Old Forest. We need this kind of connectivity again, and a second large green space in Midtown, as a complement to Overton Park, would be a great start.

Rainbow Lake filling back up

I got an email from Larry Franks, hard-working DPS administrator of maintenance, this morning. The work is finished in Rainbow Lake, and they'll begin filling it back up about lunchtime today. That's impressive, given the amount of rain they had to contend with on this job, as well as the delay for a second day of fish rescue. It will be lovely to have the lake back again.

Larry says the Zoo curators are planning to return the fish and wildlife to the lake next week, after the oxygen has a chance to stabilize and the chlorine to dissipate. So we'll be back to normal (but with working fountains and drainage) very soon.

Mushroom madness

All the rain has led to a massive sprouting of mushrooms all over the park. I've enjoyed walking and looking at all the different shapes and sizes. The original manuscript of Peter Pan (more fairies, fewer pirates) says that when you find a circle of mushrooms, fairies have been having a ball there. I think there was some dancing on the Greenward under the moon a couple of nights ago.

Park Use in China

My friend Heidi Bissell is in China all summer doing research, and she recently wrote me about how the Chinese enjoy their parks:

"There are beautiful public parks all over (they put Overton to shame - more like Central Park in NYC) with lakes and bridges and trees and such. The biggest difference, though, is that the parks here are FULL of people all day and all night. Every square inch is used by people playing music in small groups, people looking on, people dancing with fans and scarves.

In the mornings there are mostly individual musicians practicing, and tons of people doing their morning Tai Chi or other exercises, but at night all the musicians and dancers perform. It's cacophony sometimes because it is so crowded that the music all overlaps. But it's so much fun to wander around listening to all the music and seeing all the families out listening and enjoying the shows. The performers are rather skewed towards the older folks, but there are always a few young people playing and dancing too, so there's hope for the future."