Board members
Vernette Allen, Vice President Organizational Development
I am raising my family in Jamaica Plain, not far from Franklin Park. My son’s elementary school is a block from the park and he goes to the park for physical education classes and to play. For the last few years I have been a walk group leader for the Black Women’s Health Institute. I am interested in the multiple uses of the park and how that is managed as well as the public health potential of the park for community residents. This past year I have helped develop a job program for young people – the Franklin Park Summer Youth Horticulture Crew.
photo: Vernette with Janice Reid (left), FPC member and founder of the Greater Roxbury Track Club that sponsors events in Franklin Park.
Connie CecilI have lived 6 houses from the Glen Road entrance to Franklin Park for 22 years. I soon became familiar with the park in daily walks. I was involved when neighbors met in 1997 about the park’s shabby condition and was part of the group that decided to revive the Coalition. Since then I have studied the history of Franklin Park and of Olmsted’s goals and designs. Because I went to art school I went into business as a garden designer ten years ago. I would love to restore the original plantings in Franklin Park to Olmsted’s design. I would hope to see ongoing education about the historic aspects of this park. Last year I helped design and plant the Native Forest Understory at the site of the defunct bathrooms.
Braulio FelipeI am the public relations and events coordinator of the Loiza Multicultural Festival. I also work with the Dominican Festival. I am the general secretary of the Dominican Foundation. I work as a finance committee member of the Caribbean Foundation. For my job I am the business manager of Ecumenical Social Action Committee in Egleston Square. One of the major reasons I care about the park is because this particular park is in the middle of the neighborhood and offers the opportunity for every community in Boston to be part of the park. It is truly a park for everyone. This is the only park that is in the neighborhood that has a Zoo, golf, and many other natural things. We have to keep it safe for the next generations. I believe in giving part of my life to the community.
Ron Hafer
I moved to an apartment with a view of the park in 1967. Four years later my wife and I bought a house half a block from Franklin Park, where we still live today. I remember football games in the park on weekends with my children and many other activities. My longtime community interests are around housing and transportation. I started ESAC’s affordable home ownership program, out of which grew Urban Edge, where I served as director. I worked to stop the highway from coming through our neighborhoods and over the past few years have tried to improve public transit to Franklin Park. Currently I play tennis in the park, walk my dog there everyday, and serve on the Coalition’s Transportation Committee.
Martha Karchere, President
I am a family physician who is raising three sons next to Franklin Park. The boys feel sorry for their friends in the suburbs who have little postage stamp backyards to play in. I also have a degree in public health and feel that urban greenspaces contribute to the public’s health in clear, measurable ways. I have worked on many park issues with FPC, from public safety to a park management plan. My current interest is to see a woodlands restoration plan implemented.
photo: Martha with FPC member, Leslie Belay (right), staffing the Franklin Park Coalition table at Wake Up the Earth. Leslie and Martha's concerns about park management issues led them to join a community effort to re-establish the Coalition in 1997.
My interests in the park started during the construction of the Tropical Rain Forest at the Zoo in the late 1970’s. That led to a series of meetings with the community and the state. I was representing the Grove Hall Board of Trade, met Franklin Park Coalition members, was encouraged to get involved by Richard Heath, and joined the Coalition Board in the 1980’s. I was interested in the Coalition’s concern for the entire park. I worked with the Parks Commissioner, Robert McCoy, at that time to raise funds to restore the golf course. I re-joined the Coalition Board when the organization came back in 1997. Today my interests lie in continuing to stabilize the Franklin Park Zoo and revive the Elma Lewis Playhouse in the Park.
Marilyn Marion
I was born in Boston and raised in Roxbury; and as a child, I would go to Franklin Park on Saturdays or Sundays. I remember the organ grinder with his monkey perched on his shoulder; the hippopotami wallowing in their giant pools; the elephants enjoying the peanuts that we fed them and the giraffes whose necks were endless. I live on Park View Street, and I love being so close to the park to enjoy its beauty, especially when I traverse the walking path. Preserving the beauty of Franklin Park is important to me. I want the park to thrive, so that the citizens of Boston can enjoy its green space for many, many years to come. It is a pleasure to join a Board that will give me the opportunity to be part of Franklin Park’s preservation.
Amanda Merricks
I have lived in Boston all my life and experienced going to Franklin Park on numerous occasions on field trips to the zoo, lots of outings in the park. I even took a swing with a club on the golf course . . . I lead a walk group around the loop path once a week. I am a part of the Franklin Park Coalition because I feel I need to take care and give back to the community and help build for the future.
Suzanne Monk
I live in the Stony Brook area of JP near Doyle’s. As a child in the 50’s my father would take me to Franklin Park from our home in Roxbury. At that time the Zoo was larger and free. After 30 years of living away from JP my husband and I have bought a house here. I wanted to be on the board because I am a dog walker in the park everyday and wanted to be involved more with what goes on in the park. I presently head up the stewardship group for the Williams St. entrance to the park.
Right, Suzanne at park clean up with Mattapan park user Mary Burks, and Patsy Williams, FPC outreach staff
Leslie Moore
For the last seven years, I’ve lived with a group of community minded folks on Nightingale Street near the Franklin Park-Wales St. entrance. I work with young people everyday and currently serve as the Director of Youth Programs for Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses Inc. One of my biggest hopes for myself, the young people I work with and my community is for there to be greater awareness of the many blessings and resources we already have. Having come from a small town in the desert separating California & Arizona where trees are sparse and the temperature gets to 120 degrees on summer days, it has been easy for me to see Franklin Park as the incredible resource it is. I am excited about increasing the awareness, usage and enjoyment of the park.
Shirley Shillingford, Vice President Government Relations
I have been living in the neighborhoods around Franklin Park for 32 years. I was first introduced to the park because of the problems that existed during the era when there was a lot of negativism about the park. I joined the Coalition in 1975 because I felt I could make a difference. When the Coalition re-formed several years ago I came back onto the Board. Putting on the annual Caribbean Carnival in the park, I feel even more connected to the park. Being on the Coalition Board enables me to have a voice on park issues. As a user of the park, I want to give something back.
photo: Shirley at the FPC Annual Meeting.
Merlin Southwick, SecretaryFor more than 25 years I have lived across the street from Franklin Park on Sigourney Street. In When I first moved here it was common to find torched cars in the park during my morning runs. The Park has provided my family and neighbors with a playing area and offered rich opportunities for watching wild life, attending cultural festivals, and viewing seasonal sporting events. I became involved in the Franklin Park Coalition because I have been a beneficiary of the Coalition’s stewardship of the Park and other people’s hard work. As a member of the Transportation Committee I would like to see improvements in public transit that would allow more people to come to the park. I would like to see a formal management plan for the park that defines priorities for its use and maintenance. I would like to see the neighborhoods around the park join hands and embrace the park as a fragile resource that must be preserved.
Jett Thomas
I have a lifelong connection to Franklin Park. My family lived on Elm Hill Avenue when I was born and I grew up in the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts studying ballet and modern dance. I graduated from Mass College of Art and worked as an industrial artist for many years in New York before moving back to Boston to be with my elderly parents. As an artist I am a sculptor and set designer. Today I walk in the park with my mother and go there to relax and play an occasional game of tennis. I want to help work on the Elma Lewis Playhouse revival to bring the park concerts that I grew up with to a new generation of park users.
Bette Toney
I grew up in Roxbury with fond memories of my own about Franklin Park, as well as hearing family stories. Having picnics near the Rose Garden, watching elephants spraying themselves cool on a hot summer day, or laughing about "golf stories" from my father and uncles, have established my love for the Park and now contributes to a deep desire to help restore the Park to its former "glory." The issue of open space in my neighborhood (Tommy's Rock in Roxbury), in the city, and in the world is dear to my heart. I have recently been led back to my childhood church, Twelfth Baptist, where I am excited about the wonderful things God has in store for His Church.
Alden “Sonny” Washington
I was born, raised, and attended school and college in Roxbury. I have been a resident of Dorchester since 1963 and am a retired engineer from Digital Equipment Corp. I became a Master Gardener in 1998 through the Garden Futures program and have been an active gardener since 1972. I am also on the Board of the Massachusetts Audubon Boston Nature Center and the Clark-Cooper Community Gardens. I was recruited into the FPC family two years ago. It was a good move – the FPC is what I needed. Until I became a member of the FPC I really did not understand the underlying impact the “PARK” had on people, surrounding communities and the environment.
photo: Sonny showing off daffodils planted with hopeFound (Shattuck Shelter) TIL program.
Ethel Woodard Stafford
I have been a resident of Boston for many years, but for the last five I have passed Franklin Park just about everyday traveling from my home in Mattapan to The United House of Prayer where I have been a member for 37 years. This is the edifice with the two White Lions sitting out front that is directly across from the Park on Seaver Street. I have always admired the park as I traveled along the pathway because I love to see God’s green land looking so beautiful. My current position as the Special Assistant in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Services Office of Public Private Partnerships has afforded me the opportunity to partner with many friends groups across Massachusetts in their efforts to enhance their respective parks. I participate as a member of the Franklin Park Coalition not only to enhance my partnership experience by working directly within my community but also to share my expertise and knowledge of partnerships to hopefully add value to my life and others in some small way.