June 2016
 
CitySplash returns to the Charles River this July! Get ready to take the plunge. Photo by Aaron Bourque.


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Swim the Charles!

Join us at our fourth annual CitySplash event in the Charles River! Over 1,000 swimmers have already experienced swimming in the Charles with the Conservancy: will you join their ranks this summer? 

"I've lived in both Boston and Cambridge for many years but seeing these world-class cities from the vantage point of swimming in the Charles was a unique thrill that everyone should be able to experience. I went in to the water a skeptic and came out an advocate for increasing public access to this one-of-a-kind resource: a swimmable urban river."  - David Hacin, founding Principal and President of Hacin + Associates

This year's Swimmable Charles CitySplash event will be held on Tuesday, July 12 from 2 - 6 p.m. on the Boston Esplanade. Register for your half-hour swim spot today (space is limited!) by visiting: swimthecharles.eventbrite.com.
Sunday Parkland Games Return       

The Conservancy is excited to kick off our 8th season of Sunday Parkland Games in North Point Park on June 26th! North Point Park is in Cambridge, adjacent to the Lynch Family Skatepark. For a map and directions, click here. A variety of games and activities will be offered by Knucklebones, so that community members of all ages can engage in and enjoy the Charles River parklands. Yoga instruction will be offered during the final hour by Karma Yoga Studios. Activities will take place most Sundays, late June through September from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. and are free and open to all. Please see our website for the exact schedule and location. If you've joined us in the past, please note our new locations for this summer. Hope to see you there!

Families enjoying Sunday Parkland Games fun. Photo by Conservancy staff.
Conservancy Volunteers       

Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time in May. It was a very productive month! The Conservancy participated in the third annual Watertown Helps Out Day, where we worked in Cannalonga Memorial Park in Watertown. In addition, RBC helped to rake, weed, and plant garden beds in Herter Park, Novartis helped ready Magazine Beach for the summer months, and Xyster Consulting worked to remove invasive bittersweet vine along Memorial Drive in Cambridge. Heath Middle School 6th grade students worked near the Dealtry Pool in Watertown, where they removed garlic mustard, painted benches, and raked leaves. Volunteers from Ernst and Young painted railing and cut back debris along Soldiers' Field Road and the New England Aquarium LiveBlue Service Corp teamed up with the Friends of Herter Park and community members to clean up the Publick Theatre in Herter Park. The Conservancy also continued our Skateboarding for Good program, working with middle school youth every other Monday: thank you to everyone for your hard work!

To schedule a volunteer event for your business or organization please email Sasha at [email protected] or call (617) 300- 8173.

Open Volunteer Event
The next open volunteer event will be Saturday, July 16 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. We will be working in Cannalonga Memorial Park in Watertown. Please email Sasha at [email protected] for more details and to RSVP.

Employees from RBC smile by the river in Herter Park, after a day of volunteering. Thank you to all of our wonderful corporate sponsors! Photo by Conservancy staff.
Advocacy: I-90 Meeting and MassDot Capital Investment Plan

Please join us on Monday, June 27th for the first public presentation of the BRA's findings regarding the I-90 Project. Seven months ago, the Boston Redevelopment Authority began a place-making study to make recommendations for the 110-acre I-90 Allston project in these 5 areas: Public Realm/Open, Space, Mobility/Connectivity, Development,  Potential/Flexibility, Distinctive Place/Context Sensitive, and Energy Efficiency/Sustainability. This meeting will be a great opportunity to learn more about this massive $500 million project to rebuild the Mass Pike Interchange in Allston, build a new neighborhood, improve the Charles River, and help shape our region's future. The meeting will take place on June 27, at 6 p.m. at 123 Antwerp St. in Brighton.

In more MassDOT news, last month, the agency released its Capital Investment Plan that laid out spending priorities for the next five years. Over 200 supporters wrote to MassDOT requesting that funding for a pedestrian/bicycle underpass at the Anderson Memorial Bridge be included in this spending plan! Read more about our underpasses advocacy campaign and about the opportunity to fund this crucial parkland improvement.
Parkland Renewal: A Swimming Appeal

A sincere thank you to all of the generous donors who contributed to the Conservancy's Spring Appeal! To read recent news about the Conservancy's work to make the parklands more active, attractive and assessable for all, please click  here.  
 
Your donations allow us to continue our work and to put on events, like CitySplash, for you! As the Conservancy works to find a permanent home for the Swimmable Charles initiative, your support is needed to enable this work.
 
If you want to see public swimming returned to the Charles, please take a moment to make a donation by clicking here. 
Parkland News     

RiverFest 2016
On Saturday, June 4th, the Cambridge Arts Council held the 37th RiverFest, on the East Cambridge Waterfront. It was the first time this well loved festival took place along the Cambridge Parkway and around the Lechmere Canal. The Charles River played a key role in the event. As Jason Week, Executive Director at the Cambridge Arts Council put it, "The additional opportunities that we sought this year to not only have the Charles [River] as a magnificent backdrop to the event, but to also be an active area throughout the day for boating and direct use via Charles River Canoe and Kayak, Charles River Boat Co. and the floating Rock/Alternative performance stage was simply awesome!" 

Swimming in the Seine?
Paris is known for its great architecture and bridges, but river swimming? So far only the Canal de la Villette in the 19th arrodissement is used for regular swims, but in preparation for the Olympic bid of 2024 Paris is planning to have swimming in the river Seine near the Eiffel Tower. Renata von Tscharner recently met with the Cheffe de Cabinet of the city's environment department, Charlotte Cristofari, who says both the pollution and the boat traffic are challenges the city plans to overcome. The Conservancy is excited to see urban river swimming catching on around the world. To read about what other cities are bringing river swimming back, click here.

Landscape Design Council Award
On June 1st, the Landscape Design Council of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts presented Conservancy founder and president Renata von Tscharner the Award of Excellence in recognition of outstanding civic accomplishment. Congratulations Renata!

Park Pedal Fest 2016 expansion 
Park & Pedal  is a joint  initiative by MassDOT, DCR, and Montague Bikes to encourage biking to work in metropolitan Boston. Launched in 2015, the program is now expanding to new locations.Come and join the celebration in Herter Park in Allston. There will be free breakfast, free bike tune-ups and more! For more info go to parkandpedal.org.
Yoga, Nature Programs, Music & Fun at Magazine Beach this Summer
 
Three bands and Ukulele and Harmonica jams will kick-off 2016 summer programs at Magazine Beach Park on Tuesday, June 21 from 5 - 8 p.m.  Saturday Morning Yoga, Stories & Song, and the opening of DCR's free swimming pool will all take place in the days following.
 
This is the third summer that the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association has organized a rich array of free programs at the park. Among them are Nature Detectives, (Tuesdays in July and early August) and Kid's Fun & Great Jazz July 23, with kite flying, Knucklebones, Learn-to-row, a toddler dance party and an amazing Mozambican jazz band, Albino Mbie. These programs are once again courtesy of lead sponsor Sanofi, with support from MIT and the Charles River Conservancy.
 
Come discover Magazine Beach Park, at the foot of Magazine Street, along the river. For further information, click here
CCTV  
  • Emily O'Hara, Senior Exhibit Developer at the Museum of Science, tells Renata more about the brand new Yawkey Gallery on the Charles Riveran exciting permanent exhibit that explores the connections between engineering and nature on the Charles River. View this show here
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Upcoming Events

THANK YOU
 

Anonymous 
  
   
Carol and Paul Fremont-Smith

The Phillip and Elizabeth Gross Family Foundation
  
 
 
  
  
for your generous and visionary support!
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Thank you to

Anonymous Trust

Kate Kellog and Randy Peeler

for their generous leadership gifts given in the month of May.
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Thank you to the Mass Cultural Council for their support of our High School Volunteer Program
                            
  
To see a full list of foundations, business partners,and leadership corporate sponsors, please visit our website.
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