Heard about the drive to fund a statue for Chief Garry? The story is tied back to one that used to grace Chief Garry Park in Spokane, but that due to age and vandalism, was removed two years ago.

A grass-roots movement to create a replacement honoring one of the Spokane Tribe’s most recognized and important leaders has been underway ever since. Recently, word arrived from a former FOF Board member that a benefit concert is planned - headlined by solo artist and Colville Tribal member Jim Boyd.

Saturday, April 25th, 7:00 pm at the Bing, tickets are just $15, with all proceeds going toward Garry’s statue. Very worthwhile.

A copy of the event poster is linked below. For more info, call 509-458-6586.

Concert poster (890 Kb, Acrobat® file)

Should a “Dog Park” - a grassy and fenced area where dogs can play off-leash - be located in High Bridge Park?

For several years now, residents have wanted the City to provide such a feature, and the under-utilized land immediately west of “A” Street and south of West 2nd Avenue near Hangman Creek has become a focus for the proposal. (Google Map)

On Tuesday and Wednesday, April 7 and 8, the Parks Department will host public hearings on the concept. Both hearings will begin at 6:30 pm in Council Chambers, 808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard.

Have an opinion or just want to learn more? Be sure to attend one of the two hearings and voice your thoughts or pose questions. To help explain the scope of what’s being considered, we’ve included a copy of the conceptual site plan provided by the City below.

The Gorge Master Plan calls for the development of area-specific planning for the High Bridge Park site - a very large, diverse and important component of lands acquired as part of the 1908 Olmsted plan. The plan also recognizes that something substantial needs to occupy and help activate the under-utilized public lands where the dog park is being proposed. Is this the answer? Learn more, pose questions, and voice your opinions!

Concept site plan (1.4 Mb, Acrobat® file)

Dark clouds threatened, but a record number - more than 800 volunteers - turned out for this year’s Spokane River Clean-Up.

Happily, the rain stayed away - enabling folks to stay (mostly) dry while cleaning the Spokane River shoreline ranging from the Spokane River Gorge, the Iron Bridge area from Northern Lights Brewery to Avista’s headquarters on Mission, and a stretch between the Bowl & Pitcher and the downriver disc golf course. As in years past, folks from Northwest Whitewater Association (NWA) - and this year, joined by FLOW Adventures - helped clean near-shore and riverbed areas.

Did this year’s turnout and quantities of trash surpass last year’s effort? You bet! Figures released by the City show that 12,020 pounds - that’s more than six tons - of garbage was collected. On top of that, 4,101 pounds of trash is now on its way to Earthworks Recycling. So what’s the total take? Eight tons of garbage cleared from our river shorelines!

The “most interesting trash” competition was judged by local artist and garbologist Gabriel Brown, covering four categories - useful/valuable, beautiful/pretty, sad/creepy, and humorous/entertaining. The grand prize, a float for four people by NWA, went to a rusted Studebaker door hauled in by Brett, Kristen and Jasper Danielson.

Thanks to all 36 of our team leaders, on-site medics and incident commanders, steering committee, and numerous event partners. Thanks too, to our fantastic cleanup sponsors, including Wheelabrator Spokane, Waste Management, Washington Trust Bank, and Avista Utilities.

Check out the snapshots of this year’s event below - thanks and credits to Steve Dawson of the Spokane Camera Club. Plus, we’ve added links to some great media follow-up and on-line coverage of the event.

Already thinking waaaay ahead? It’s not too soon to mark your calendar for next year’s seventh annual Spokane River Clean-Up - (tentatively) set for Saturday, October 3rd, 2009!

“Shallow Cogitations” post (weblink)
Down to Earth post (weblink)
Out There Monthly post (weblink)
2008 Clean-Up Snapshots (Flash™ gallery)

As the design and permitting phase of Spokane’s proposed whitewater park continues to progress, one step involves hosting “open-house” style meetings to give folks an opportunity to see the work first-hand - and to give FOF and its design consultants feedback.

Just such an event is coming up soon: Spokane Parks, acting as lead in this case, is hosting a public meeting on the whitewater park on Thursday, August 14 at the West Central Community Center from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Per State requirements, the Department recently sent notice by mail to those who live near the project area, and has posted notice in “People’s Park” near the Sandifur Bridge.

Again, the purpose of the meeting is to receive comments and input from the community on the preliminary design of the feature, and will serve as the initial public meeting for the project’s conditional use permit application under State shoreline regulations.

Please help us out by attending this important meeting, and by letting anyone who wishes to express their support for and/or concerns about the project know about it, too!