Due to last week’s wet weather, volunteers are needed again this week to complete the current stage of work on the Winthrop Avenue Family Historical Garden.

 

The Chicago Department of Environment Greencorps Chicago program will be working with its crew and community volunteers to complete the garden’s footpaths with recycled alley pavers. Planting beds allowing for actual gardens and vegetable plots are not far behind.

 

Over three days last week, Greecorps and various community volunteers accomplished much: excavating & removing debris from additional footpaths, preparing substrate, and & laying bricks.  With the two additional workdays this week, Wednesday, September 2 and Friday, September 4, we hope to complete the footpaths.

 

To help on either of these dates anytime between 10 am and 3pm, contact Joyce or Wally at Uptown United at 773-878-1064 or  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it  or   This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

 

Some background...

The community garden has been named the Winthrop Avenue Family Historical Garden in recognition of the unique history of that block. In addition to transforming underutilized, landlocked lots into a community asset, the Garden serves as living marker of Uptown history. The 4600 block of Winthrop had been one of the few North Side areas in which African Americans were allowed to live due to restrictive land covenants. One bright spot is that the people that grew up & lived on that block were a very tight-knit extended family. A reunion of residents – past and present – and garden dedication is being planned for Saturday, September 12th. For a little more info on the block and the 2006 reunion, visit:

http://www.compassrose.org/uptown/4600-Winthrop.html

 

The Garden represents a true community effort. Among the partners are Alderman Shiller of the 46th Ward, the City’s NeighborSpace and Greencorps programs, the Department of Environment, Uptown United, Manske Dieckmann Thompson architects, 46th Ward Streets & Sanitation, and Hitchcock Design Associates.  Additional volunteers from JP USA, Heartland Alliance, McCormick Boys & Girls Club, Alternatives Inc., Truman Square Neighbors, nearby condo associations, and of course, the extended Winthrop Avenue Family, have pitched-in regularly towards the progress on the site.

 

Thanks for your continued support!