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It was lucky that the torrential rainfall held off as long as it did on the last day of the Lowell Folk Festival, letting loose around 4:00 pm and sending everyone running for shelter. We consoled ourselves with sushi at The Blue Taleh and then headed home. The downside was that I missed getting my bag of mulch from the festival recycling center located across from Lowell High. (Since I don’t want to carry mulch around all day, I usually pick up a bag while heading back to the parking garage). I was reminded of that today when someone forwarded information on WasteCap, a public-private, non-profit initiative formed to help Massachusetts businesses find cost effective ways to recycle and reduce waste. WasteCap touts the festival as “the premier example of a major entertainment event with waste reduction, composting and recycling programs.” In case you don’t know the extent of the recycling and trash management that goes on at the Lowell Folk Festival, here is what WasteCap says about it:

What is remarkable about the LFF recycling program is the plan that starts with eliminating waste before it is generated. Most beverages were delivered in reuseable crates; bottles and cans are recycled and food related waste is composted. All food vendors or sponsors agree to use compostable service ware, including the utensils and waxed paper cups. The trash receptacles in the area of the food service areas are collected for composting. Throughout the Festival area, trash barrels are paired with recycle containers for bottles and cans. Volunteers collect the recyclables including corrugate and large containers for sorting and recycling. The compostable waste is sorted by volunteers to remove the extraneous non recyclable materials that may have been thrown in the trash. Each year the Recycling Center hands out bags of the previous year’s compost and the bags of compost always run out. Potted plants at the Recycling Center were planted in last year’s compost by the Community Greenhouse which also uses the LFF compost.

Just another reason to love the Lowell Folk Festival!

Tonight, beginning at 6:30, the Friends of Tyler Park (FOTP) will hold their second in a series of three outdoor concerts this summer. (The music plays from 7-8 p.m.) This is one concert you won’t want to miss and it’s FREE. Tonight’s group, Take Two, is one of my favorites; these guys really put on a good show that will have you tapping your feet and singing along. So, pack up the kids, bring a blanket or beach chairs, and head to lovely Tyler Park on Westford Street in the Highlands (one block from the Pine and Westford Streets intersection). I can’t think of a better way to spend a balmy summer evening, especially when it’s a fullish moon and the sounds are just right. Free lemonade, popcorn and hotdogs are also provided by FOTP. Hope to see you there!

Yesterday I attended a fun and quick (less than two hours) training session so I could be a researcher in Lowell Seniors Count, an ambitious project to do a door-to-door census and needs assessment of all 15,000 Lowell seniors. The project will kickoff with a breakfast for volunteers at the Lowell Senior Center this Saturday, and the first surveying will begin on Tuesday, July 22, starting with seniors living in high-rise apartments. The project will continue until seniors from every neighborhood in Lowell have been contacted, and according to Lynne Brown-Zounes, senior center executive director, the data gathered “will change the way we provide services to the elderly.”  

Currently, about 95 folks have completed the training to conduct the surveys, but another 100 volunteers are still needed. If interested in helping with this important community-research project, training sessions will be held at the Senior Center on Monday, July 28, at 9 a.m. and noon; Thursday, July 31, at 6 p.m.; Saturday, August 2, at 9 a.m., and Monday, August 4, at 9 a.m. and other times. Volunteers, who will wear identification badges and matching tee shirts, choose the neighborhoods and dates that fit their schedule. Volunteers are also needed to stuff the gift bags researchers will give to seniors–four thousand done so far, 11 thousand to go! The bags include information about tax abatement, water discounts, and prescription help, as well as dozens of other useful information.

Lowell Seniors Count is a coordinated effort between UMass Lowell, the Senior Center, the City, and the Lowell Police. It is also supported by many community groups and businesses, and more than $28,000 has been donated to provide emergency relief for seniors identified through the survey process. This project is a fun and interesting way to make a difference, maybe make a new friend, learn some things, and even get some exercise. Why not get involved and become a community researcher as we make sure every senior counts in Lowell!

I’ve only lived here 15 years, so I had never heard of the Center City Committee until I read Marie’s post which caused me to visit their excellent and informative website. I learned about the history of the committee, which started out in 1972 with a grant from the New England Regional Commission (now defunct) as a public/private partnership that endures to this day, now as a private non profit corporation that has been involved in many of the initiatives that have transformed the city in the last two decades. If you look at the list of members, you will notice an impressive mixture of businesses, agencies and citizen groups with the names attached of many of Lowell’s movers and shakers. Their meeting schedule is also impressive (weekly, informal gatherings as well as monthly stakeholder meetings) and indicates high energy and a sense of purpose. As Marie points out, the Center City Committee will now be blogging on the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) blog. This will be a great way to keep up with what this group is planning to do next, because we are all stakeholders in Lowell’s downtown!

We love “twofors”, something Dr. Baehr was famous for as, time and again, she was forced to trim the budget but always managed to salvage direct student services. This ‘twofor’ is a chance to win a gas-efficient 2008 Smart Car Fortwo (no pun intended) while supporting student learning in Lowell. Tickets to benefit ONE Lowell’s truancy prevention programs are $20 with only 2500 tickets sold. The second prize is 4 clubhouse seats to see the New England Revolution play the LA Galaxy and David Beckham. The drawing will take place at the ONE Lowell World Cup Soccer Tournament on August 3rd, at 6:00 pm, at Cawley Stadium. You do not have to be present to win, but you’ll be missing the best soccer/family event of the summer! Tickets can be purchased online or at Lowell’s newest ice cream shop, Monkey’s, 66 Merrimack Street, or Brew’d Awakening, 61 Market St. We’ll be talking more about the tournament, which looks to be even more successful and fun than last year, but in the meantime, get a raffle ticket before they’re gone!

I almost didn’t attend the June meeting of the Non Profit Alliance of Greater Lowell, but I’m glad I did as the presenters brought some disturbing facts to light concerning Lowell’s high school dropout rate and the prison situation in Massachusetts.   These are not new issues, nor are they unrelated. Just think about where many high school dropouts are heading when they disappear off the radar of the school system. Victoria Fahlberg, the Executive Director of OneLowell, the highly-effective, yet woefully underfunded agency that works with Lowell’s highly-truant students in the middle schools and at the high school, tackles this problem every day. The statistics that she presented were startling:  Lowell’s graduation completion rate is 70%; this means that 30% of our incoming freshmen drop out of high school.  Even worse, the dropout rate for Hispanic students is 52%.  According to this study, funded by the Asian American Legal Defense and Eduation Fund, the rate for Asian students is 42.9%. (Hispanic students comprise 22.4 % and Asian 28.9 % of Lowell students.)

The prison issue is also not a new one.  We know about ‘three strikes you’re out’ and mandatory sentencing, but have we thought about the results?  Mark Hemenway of New England Prison Ministries, a faith-based group that works to help released prisoners establish a life and stay out of jail, spoke us about our current culture of incarceration.  Some facts:  the United States has more people in prison than any other country in the world.  The cost has been estimated at $40,000 to $50,000 per year per prisoner, with a rate of recidivism that may be as high as 75%.  According to Hemenway, we now spend more on our prisons than on our public universities (as someone pointed out, that’s not saying much; Massachusetts is near the bottom for spending on public higher education).  We constantly hear that there is no money for the schools or for other local services, but where is all the money going – to fund wars and prisons. It’s time to rethink our priorities as a society and direct our spending accordingly.

Don’t forget about the African Festival also held tomorrow, from 11 am – 7 pm, at the Sampas Pavilion. After a few hours of viewing gardens, what could be better than music, food and dancing on the banks of the Merrimack?

Here’s an idea whose time has come – urban garden tours! (I’ve been on garden tours that have you driving several miles between gardens, when you get there you see a lot of lawn). Urban gardeners make the most of every inch of space and, as at Fort Hill Park this Saturday, you can walk between the gardens. Here’s the scoop: Saturday, June 21, 10 am – 4 pm.

Meet at Fort Hill Park for free parking and tour information. Light refreshments will be provided along the tour, plus a plant and gift sale and a chance to ask questions of an expert horticulturalist. From 10-12, you will be able to view the park from a tethered hot air balloon! Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the park on Saturday and cost $25/$45 for a pair; $10 for Seniors, teens or Friends of Fort Hill Park; children under 12 free. Proceeds to benefit Fort Hill Park restoration fund.

The Citywide Parent Council will thank Superintendent Karla Brooks Baehr for her service to the Lowell Public Schools by donating books in her name to individual school libraries across the city. Dr. Baehr, whose tenure as our school chief ends on June 30, will be presented with a list of the donations at a farewell gathering held in the Mayor’s Reception Room on June 18 from 5:30-7 p.m.—just prior to her last school committee meeting. The public is invited to attend the reception and participate in the book-giving—a “twofer” in Baehr-speak as it is a great way to honor her commitment to improving public education in Lowell while also expanding our school libraries. And it’s so easy to participate: simply go to Barnes & Noble at 151 Merrimack Street, purchase a book, and choose a school library, or EVEN EASIER, call Barnes & Noble at 978-458-3939 and purchase the book by telephone with a credit card. B&N will record your donation for the presentation to Dr. Baehr and deliver your book to the school library you selected. The downtown store is also offering a 20 percent discount on books purchased for this program and can recommend children’s favorites.

It was a morning to celebrate giving and thank key volunteers who provide services to our community. It was also an opportunity to welcome Joshua Kraft, president of the New England Patriots Foundation, and learn about his family’s twin priorities: winning football games and supporting community work. Kraft was a speaker at today’s Greater Lowell Community Foundation Philanthropy Day Conference, which was the best I’ve attended. The speeches were short, the anecdotes poignant, and perhaps best of all for me, the connections to Lowell High School were palpable. Many of the speakers, award founders and recipients, and major players in local philanthropy are former LHS students and faculty—a tribute to our public schools and our future. In fact, the Youth Service Group Award went to Lowell High’s National Honor Society, one of the oldest, largest, and most diverse in the country. The LHS Honor Society started in 1927 with a Jewish student president under the guidance of a female faculty advisor—just seven years after women got the right to vote. (The second student president was an African American.) The current Honor Society president is senior Tim Bergeron, who also received the Coach’s Award for Track last night and was named LHS Idol a few months ago—a talented athlete, performer, honor student, community volunteer, and genuinely nice boy. Eddie Mercado, another youth leader honored at the breakfast, received the Rising Star Volunteer Award for his work at UTEC and his role in the creation of the Governor’s Statewide Youth Council. Mercado’s $1,000 award will go toward UTEC’s continued work with youth in the city. Although not quite as young but certainly as inspiring, Stephen Conant received the Banker’s Volunteer Award for Lifetime Achievement. Conant, a 1972 LHS graduate and successful businessman, has been committed to protecting Lowell’s natural resources for more than a decade. The annual event provided a glimpse of key people making a positive difference, and it offered an update on the foundation’s $128,000 in awards to 50 different groups this year—both significant in their impact on our communities.