EVERYONE is invited to celebrate the historic lighting of the Walter Baker Factory Sign in Lower Mills Dorchester on Friday, June 10th from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at the Walter Baker Artists’ Lofts, 1231 Adams Street, Lower Mills, Dorchester. After 55 years of darkness, we are announcing that the historic Walter Baker sign atop the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory Administration building in Dorchester Lower Mills will now be lit each evening. Once again, it will serve as a visual reference point for the neighborhood, and a reminder of the industrial past of Lower Mills and its thriving present, thanks to a Community Preservation Grant from the City of Boston the tireless work of a community-based partnership, the generous support of donors, local businesses, and neighbors. The Lighting CelebrationThe lighting ceremony will be held on Friday, June 10th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. It will be a celebration of the vitality of the Lower Mills community, with food from local restaurants, locally made crafts, and Baker chocolate factory memorabilia. A formal thank you to sponsors and all those who made this possible with a special memoriam for Terry Dolan, without whom this would not have happened, will begin at 8pm. Right at sunset at 8:21 PM the lights will be turned on. There will be access to the lobby of the Artist’s Loft Building and a Tour starting at 7pm.

For more information about this event and for the media information and participation please contact:

Mike Skillin-Lower Mills Civic Association

857.207.9001

skill143@verizon.net

Dust off those beautiful vehicles and show them at the park on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021 from 10-2. Hobby Knolls Stables horse cart rides, performances by Boston School of Music Arts students, story reading and free books for children are some of the events planned. Please bring books your children have outgrown to the park on Sept. 12 or drop them off on the porch at 42 Milton Street anytime before if that is more convenient. Free car registration, free admission. Raffle tickets to support the event will be available.

From Lisa Ahern “We’ve struck WATER!!! What can I say, A HUGE THANK YOU!!! The Dorchester Park Association says thank you to Boston Parks and Recreation, Commissioner Ryan Woods , and City Councilor Frank Baker for making it happen…. Our water line into Dorchester Park has been started as of this morning. Now we will have a source of water for our tree program…oh….and the goats of course! Thank you also to volunteer extraordinaire , Dave Mareira , and Amy Frigulietti from Councilor Bakers office who have both worked very hard on this.
Thanks to ALL of the volunteers, past, present and future…with your help we are able to make good stuff happen!! Yes you CAN make a difference …. get out there and VOLUNTEER…..your voice is heard, but only if you apply yourself and volunteer for whatever it is that you think is important”

The members of the Dorchester Park Association have taken the initiative to bring goats into the Park to help control the invasive weed species that are threatening to take over this historic landscape. Designed in the late 1800’s by Frederick Law Olmsted, the Park provides the people of Dorchester with exactly what Olmsted intended. A beautiful wooded forest area to retreat to in the midst of a busy urban area. Dorchester Park is well loved and well used by its neighbors .The parks 26 acres of beech and oak forest are are home to walking trails and playgrounds, ball fields and tennis courts. People and their dogs, parents and children, runners and ball teams all enjoy the benefits of this beautiful place. Invasive species such as knotweed, bittersweet, catbriar, and poison ivy are taking over the landscape. Boston Parks and Recreation does their part in caring for and mowing, plowing, maintains athletic fields etc… but there are lots of other properties for them to care for too.The Dorchester Park Association picks up where Parks leave off by planning fun community events and helping to initiate cleanups and planting , Easter Egg Hunts and Car Shows…. The Park Association members , regular people like you and I (and we invite you to join!) , see a need to control the invasive species in a safe and natural, low impact manner. Goats love to eat weeds!!! Goats don’t suffer from poison ivy! Goats work at eating weeds all day without complaining! We would like to get the goats into the park on a regular basis for 6-8 weeks at a time on a regular yearly schedule. Returning season after season can eliminate some of the under growth that’s taken decades to accumulate. Renting goats is somewhat affordable and cost effective but we need your help to keep them coming back to be really effective. $ 400 pays for one herd for one week. $100 pays for one goat for one week. $15 pays for one goat for a day. Any amount is appreciated!! Any monies collected above our goal of $10,000 will be put towards our water restoration and tree planting initiatives. We thank you in advance for your support! Let’s make a difference together and keep this special place beautiful and growing! A quote from Lisa “Please spread the word about the go fund me campaign and let’s make us a model for other community based city park projects”  Here is a link to the go fund me page, any amount no matter how small is appreciated. Your support would mean a lot to me.

UPDATE as of 10/7/2018 The following article from The Dorchester Reporter

The goats have done an amazing job at snacking away at invasive plants and clearing away brambles and poison ivy, all while keeping children and adults entertained.

Meetings will be held the first Monday of the month from 6:00-7:00p.m. at the Lower Mills Branch of the Boston Public Library Hope to see you all at the next one on May 7th.

Area residents will be raking leaves out of the tennis courts and removing litter from the search area at Dorchester Park on Saturday, March 24 from 8-11 a.m. in preparation for the park’s Spring Egg Hunt the following Saturday, March 31 at 10 a.m. sharp.  Any voluntary help would be greatly appreciated to help to speed up the cleanup..

Anyone willing to help with the cleanup should meet at the tennis courts anytime after 8 a.m.  The more the merrier.

Spring egg hunters should arrive before 10 a.m.the following Saturday because the children find most of the eggs very quickly. RTN Federal Credit Union staff will provide photos with the Easter Bunny. Both events are sponsored by the Dorchester Park Association.

A meeting to plan the 2018 Dorchester Park Season will be held Thursday, March 8 from 6 – 7:30 p.m..at Boston Public Library’s Lower Mills branch, 27 Richmond Street in Dorchester.

Scheduled park events include a park cleanup on Saturday, March 24, the Spring Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 31 and the Classic Car Show on Sunday, Sept. 9.

The public is invited to participate and propose additional park celebrations.

Additional information is available on Facebook: Dorchester Park Boston.