Dear Buckingham Pond Conservancy Members and Friends —

Season’s Greetings! We’ve had a busy year at Buckingham Pond Conservancy and wanted to provide you with some updates on what we have been working on.

Many of you joined us for the official ribbon cutting for our new playground back in April.  It was a great day, for sure, and it has been wonderful to watch the children use the new equipment all season.

The bricks have been ordered and delivered to the Department of General Services. We were hopeful that the weather would cooperate so that DGS could install them this year, but unfortunately that has not been the case. They will install the bricks in the spring when the conditions are appropriate.   If you ordered a certificate for your brick purchase, we have those and can get them to you now, or when we celebrate the brick installation in the spring, just let us know at [email protected].

You may have noticed a large boulder in the parking area. Once in place near the playground, this boulder will house a permanent sign recognizing the generous donors who helped make the playground a reality.  That should happen over the winter when frozen ground will allow the boulder to be set in place with no damage to the ground.

BPC has purchased three new benches similar to the one in this photo.  Two will be placed near the playground and the other will replace the concrete bench near the water close to Euclid Ave on the North side of the pond. DGS will install all three once it’s warm enough to pour the concrete to hold them.

We are thrilled that the City has installed a guard rail to protect the new playground, and more importantly the children playing on it.   This was part of the formal agreement we made with the City when we donated the funds to support the playground.

As you know, whenever there is a significant rainfall, the stone dust on the path washes off the path and into the pond. This has been a problem for a very long time and is especially problematic at the Euclid entrance on the South side of the pond, and where the path turns into the park off of Raft’s way.  We are actively working with the city and advocating for improvements to the way the path is constructed and maintained.  We have heard from many of you about this issue. Please know we’re doing our best to help the City find a permanent solution to this problem and reduce the amount of stone dust that washes into the pond.

Are you interested in getting involved or helping out?

BPC will host our annual ice skating party sometime in late January or early February (1/27/19; 2/3/19; or 2/10/19). This event is dependent on the condition of the ice which is why we don’t pin down a specific date until we’re closer to the event. Fingers crossed for favorable conditions!

We desperately need someone to help us keep our membership up to date more regularly.  If you like to write, and know how to post to facebook, you can help!   We promise it is not a huge amount of work.  If you can join us one meeting a month and make a few posts from time to time it would make a huge difference.   Please get in touch at [email protected]

If you’d like to help out on our many projects, please join us at the monthly board meeting.  The next meeting is Monday 12/10 at the Bach Library branch at 7:30 PM.  The Conservancy is  100% all volunteer organization – the more people who are willing to help, the more we can accomplish!

If you’d like to help out financially, memberships run with our Fiscal Year (April 1 to March 30).  You can join or renew online here. Additional donations are always welcome – donate on line here.  Membership and other contributions can also be made by mail to Buckingham Pond Conservancy PO Box 8352, Albany NY 12208.

With the holiday season upon us, we want to extend our heartfelt wishes for a happy and healthy new year. Thank you for your continued support of the Buckingham Pond Conservancy.

Sincerely,

Felton McLaughlin

President