Riverside Park Cleanup: A Statement On Open Space

It was a fantastic day and a great way to bring in the month of  May. The 'Friends of ' had their clean-up day. They came from near and far to take care of what appears to be sacred ground.

"We're a group of people who are not only here to preserve Riverside Park, but preventing any portion of it from being sold to the ," said Kathleen Mitchell, head of Friends of Riverside Park. "This is our park this is our land. It belongs to the people of New London, it does not belong to any politician or City Council member and we are going to go as far as we have to to prevent this park from being sold. We want to re-introduce to as many people to Riverside Park as possible."

 
Jim Robarge and his wife Margaret made the trip from Westport. Grace Glynn and Celia Whitehead are students at Connecticut College. They are both from the state of Maine. Their mission was to help beautify something dear to them.

"I think its great to be out in the community," said Glynn. "The park ia a bit far from the school, but we have to try and bridge the gap. This a secret little hidden treasure of New London."

Mike Hodges brought his 10-year-old son to show the importance of helping the community. The 100 or so volunteers grabbed gloves and rakes and blowers got busy manicuring and shaping up the hillsides of Riverside Park. New London city councilors Rob Pero and Michael Passero also picked up the rakes to help beautify the landscape. Councilor Mike Buscetto III provided the picnic lunch. Ronna Stuller, a Board of Education member, may have summed it up the best: "I think that open space in New London is a very rare and valuable commodity. Part of valuing it is you have to take care of it."