Party for the Parks

In September 2017, Gossips announced an initiative to morph what was fondly known as the Mrs. Greenthumbs Hedge Fund, an informal group who organized the biennial Mrs. Greenthumbs Day Garden Tour and raised money to fund improvements to the city's parks, into a full-blown Hudson Parks Conservancy, to carry out the mission on a grander scale. At the inaugural meeting, which took place on October 20, 2017, the organizers knew they'd struck a chord. More than a hundred people came out, enthusiastic and eager to share their ideas about how Hudson's seventeen parks--large and small, historic and fairly new--could be improved and how a parks conservancy could help make that happen.

Since that inaugural meeting, the Hudson Parks Conservancy has made significant progress. It is now a registered not-for-profit, with a board of directors, active committees, a logo, and several projects in various stages of planning. The projects range from conceptual to hands-on, using community research to understand what people want from their parks and conceptualizing how the city's park might be enhanced. The goal of the Hudson Parks Conservancy is to partner with the City of Hudson in maintaining and improving the city's parks to ensure that these most democratic of spaces enrich the lives of all Hudsonians and are a source of community pride.

On Sunday, July 22, from 5 to 7 p.m., the Hudson Parks Conservancy is celebrating its auspicious beginning and launching its next phase with a Parks Party at The Secret Gardener, 250 Warren Street. The party follows this year's Mrs. Greenthumbs Day Garden Tour, a self-guided tour of twenty private gardens in Hudson open for visitation from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The garden tour is free. A donation of $40, which can be paid at the door, is requested for the Parks Party. Click here to RSVP for the party.  

Plan to spend next Sunday outdoors in Hudson. First, tour some of the city's private spaces--gardens hidden behind buildings and fences or only tantalizing glimpsed from the street. Then, gather at The Secret Gardener to celebrate and support the Hudson Parks Conservancy's efforts on behalf of the city's shared public spaces. 
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