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SUNY Fredonia’s second annual “Green Fest” will bring students and Dunkirk residents together on Saturday, April 28, to continue efforts to restore Centennial Park to its former beauty.
SUNY Fredonia students needing transportation to and from the park should meet at the Fenton Hall parking lot at 10:40 A.M. To learn more or to volunteer, contact Dr. Christina Jarvis at 716-673-3430 or jarvisc@fredonia.edu.
Students from SUNY Fredonia’s Academic Community Engagement (FACE) Center and members of Dunkirk’s Academy Heights Neighborhood Association will clean up the park, located across from Dunkirk High School, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Their ambitious agenda to generally restore the park calls for picking up litter, removing debris, pulling non-native plants and weeds, expanding gardens and testing the water of Crooked Brook.
“Green Fest” was launched last year to give students a chance to engage in an activity that benefits the planet and gives back to the surrounding community during Fred Fest weekend. More than 40 students worked alongside members of local organizations last year to plant 200 trees, 1,000 beach grass plants and dozens of flowers in parks and neighborhoods in Dunkirk.
More than 135 volunteer hours were logged by students from the Campus Climate Challenge, the men’s and women’s rugby teams and individual service-learning classes at the inaugural cleanup, which began the Centennial Park restoration.
The Dunkirk High School class of 1976 established Centennial Park, which once boasted a small footbridge, a gazebo, lighting, gardens and benches. Maintenance activities at the park have declined, as has usage, since the 1980s. More recently, the Academy Heights Neighborhood Association has worked to restore these amenities, highlighting the natural beauty of the parcel and preserving the brook and its ecosystem.
“Green Fest” is sponsored by SUNY Fredonia’s FACE Center and Office of Volunteer and Community Services and the Academy Height Neighborhood Association.
