CC Newsletter - 04/14/05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The former mayor asked the school-age children gathered for the news conference what Phase 1 play areas they liked best and why. Nearly all the play elements were cited, though the mammoth Skinner Butte play structure and the Rain Circle water feature received the most votes. "1 think the Skinner Butte play structure is gonna be really cool because I like to climb on things, and it looks really BIG," said Xander Marx, a 5th grade student from Family School. Bob Mylenek, chair of the Eugene Rotary Club RiverPlay Fundraising Committee, discussed the significance of the $150,000 Meyer Memorial Trust Grant. "The Meyer Memorial Trust Grant application process is really rigorous," said Mylenek. "We're really excited they chose RiverPlay and awarded one of the largest grants in this funding cycle to this project." Mylenek unveiled the project's fundraising thermometer at the news conference, which showed that nearly $820,000 has been raised to date. This includes the recent Meyer Memorial grant, other grants, cash and in-kind donations, and funds from the 1998 parks and open space bond measure. Construction is scheduled to begin in the next couple of months, and Mylenek appealed to the community to "step up and donate in-kind services, material and labor, as well as sponsorships of some of the remaining, unfunded play structures and $100 engraved bricks." The fundraising campaign is two-thirds of the way to its goal of raising $1.2 million to fund the project in its entirety. The last part of the news event was a site tour of the Phase 1 play areas, led by project construction manager Emily Proudfoot. Proudfoot described the play replica of Skinner Butte, Pioneer Village, stage coach, ferry, and Rain Circle and millrace water features. For more information about the construction of the playground, call Proudfoot, landscape architect in Public Works Engineering, at 682-6019. For more information about donation opportunities, call Park Development Coordinator Carrie Peterson at 682-4907. All newscasts were recorded. To receive a copy of the coverage, contact Parks and Open Space Public Information Specialist Therese Picado at 682-4814. Arbor Day Brings People and Trees Together Here's a pop quiz in honor of Arbor Day - do you know what the following equation means: 6H20 + 6CO2 .......... > C6H1206+ 602? When Urban Forester Mark Snyder posed this question to the children gathered for Eugene's Arbor Day celebration last Saturday, one girl had her hand up before he even finished asking the question. When Snyder asked her to come up and give her answer, she said, "1 think it's what trees do--take carbon dioxide and water and make oxygen." Snyder confirmed her answer and described the important process of photosynthesis by which trees and other green plants use the carbon dioxide we humans exhale to produce oxygen, or clean air. When he asked the girl her name, she said, "Flora," much to the delight of the audience. For her correct answer, Flora Waske earned the right to use the "silver shovel" and help Mayor Kitty Piercy plant the ceremonial Arbor Day tree (see photo at right). Nearly 50 people gathered near the PC Market of Choice at Franklin Boulevard and Orchard Street for the celebration, including City Councilor David Kelly, councilor for the East University neighborhood, local business owners John Hirons and Steve Romania, Eugene Tree Foundation (ETF) President Phil Carroll and several other ETF members, employees from the Red Lion Hotel (this tree planting season's newest star volunteers), and a group of 3rd to 5th grade students and their parents from Home Source, a home-school association from Bethel. Mayor Piercy accepted Eugene's 26th consecutive Tree City USA EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 April 14, 2005