HAVERHILL — Brightside is celebrating its one-year anniversary with the introduction of a new Adopt-a-Park ID program in partnership with the city. Volunteers will no longer have to dip into their pockets to buy gardening materials needed to make the city bloom with color and greenery.
Brightside members hope it will encourage others to volunteer by providing easy access to free mulch and compost at the Highway Department yard on Primrose Street, and an easy way to dispose of brush, leaves and plant remains without being charged for a highway yard waste pass.
"If you are caring for city property, you should not have to pay for it," said Brightside President Doug Edison. "Volunteers can get an ID card, which they will show at the city yard to get mulch and compost for their Adopt-a-Park sites — which are numbered and will be identified on each person's ID card."
Brightside volunteer David LaBrode, who has planted and cares for 35 trees at Winnekenni Basin and along streets and avenues in the Highlands area, said the ID program will help him and other volunteers and might encourage others to adopt new sites for a more beautiful Haverhill.
"This will provide us the resources to assist us in continuing the Adopt-a-Park program without having to spend our own money," LaBrode said. "All the mulch and compost we'll be getting has been generated by residents and is being reused to perpetuate the growth of our green spaces."
Edison said many of Brightside's volunteers are retired and are on fixed incomes and can't afford to purchase gardening materials.
"We understand that their time is what we need," Edison said.
Local businesses help Brightside too, Edison said, such as Rogers Spring Hill, which provides annuals for the sites.
"Rogers Spring Hill has always been a huge supporter of Brightside and continues to be so," Edison said. "And John Chemaly of Trinity EMS gives us money whenever we ask."
City Human Services Director Vincent Ouellette, who was in charge of Brightside until it was reborn last year, helped develop the ID system along with resident Paul MacDonald, who chairs the Adopt-a-Park Committee.
"With an ID card, you now have a way of picking up small amounts of materials for your adopted park," Ouellette said.
Arrangements will be made for the delivery of large amounts of gardening materials to adopted sites, he said.
Ouellette said there will be controls in place to ensure those with IDs get only the quantity of mulch and compost they need and use it at their adopted sites.
"They are helping with the maintenance of highly visible areas, a lot of which are at the city's gateways," Ouellette said. "And by allowing adopters to bring their materials to the highway yard, it saves the city on manpower of having to pick it up."
Haverhill's Brightside, which was founded in the early 1990s by Elaine Barker, was reborn last summer and is taking a different approach to the beautification and environmental projects it undertakes. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the installation of a new board and officers for Brightside.
Instead of one person coordinating all activities, different committees are in charge, including for the Adopt-a-Park program, community garden, Bloomfest, Haverhill Goes Green, and one in charge of maintaining the city's Pentucket Burial Grounds on Water Street and Bradford Burial Grounds on Salem Street.
"I'm very excited and happy to know Brightside is on the right path again," said Barker, who chairs this year's Bloomfest Committee. "It's really infectious as people see what we are doing and want to be part of it."
Edison said some people want to volunteer but don't want to be involved in coordinating projects.
"What we are trying to do is give people the opportunity to fulfill their passions," Edison said. "Whether I'm here or not, each group is autonomous and each decides what they want to do."
Since Brightside reorganized last year, the city has helped support its efforts.
Edison said all Brightside mailings are handled by the mayor's office, the mayor's chief of staff, Andrew Herlihy, assists with grant writing, while the mayor provides manpower and resources from the Highway Department and other city departments.
"It's really a good partnership with have with the city," Edison said.
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Get involved
To obtain an Adopt-a-Park ID, visit online at www.ci.haverhill.ma.us. Click on the link to "Departments," then "Parks and Recreation," then "Online Registration and Pay," then "Register for Activities," then "Programs." Click on the link to "Adopt-a-Park ID."
The ID is for people who have registered and been approved by the Brightside board of directors. If you have not been approved, please call Paul MacDonald at 978-994-4121.
You also can register for an ID at the Citizens Center, 10 Welcome St. Please call ahead at 978-374-2388, ext. 10, 28 or 33. Your request will then be forwarded to Brightside's board for review.
Brightside also is developing new Adopt-a-Park signs and is looking for a sponsor willing to underwrite the cost. The sponsor will have their logo printed on the new signs.
For more information about volunteering, donating or about Brightside, visit online at www.haverhillsbrightside.org.
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