The flower beds of Waban Common were mulched during Newton Serves on April 28th, 2019 by twenty volunteers from near (Waban) and far (Needham and Westborough). Forty cubic yards of mulch that were delivered by the City to a spot on the south side of the site were moved, in a seemingly endless circling of wheelbarrows, by dedicated workers who spread all that rich brown earth around the shrubs and trees planted last fall. The mulch alone immediately transformed the island from drab to dramatic, but the weeks that have passed since that day have also brought to our site the first color explosion of cherry blossoms and rhododendrons.

On June 8, 2019 the Waban Scout Troop that meets regularly across the street at the Union Church of Waban will provide the labor necessary to install the sod that was generously donated by Sam White and Sons of Newton. There is even a Scout from that troop, Alex Maclean, who will earn his Eagle Scout status by leading this endeavor. 

Dunn Gaherin’s will provide lunch and drinks to the Scouts and other volunteers laying down the sod. Jim Egan, of Landscape Design Associates, will be the Leader of Leaders for this event that is happening because of Jim’s initiative.

We continue to ask for donations for our Maintenance Fund. We have received a $13,000 gift from Northland Investment Corporation and the first installment of three new $1500 annual pledges by our friends at The Village Bank. We hope that you, our neighbors, will fall in love with this spectacular new public space and help us to reach our challenge to raise a sustainable maintenance fund that will provide enough interest income to preserve this project into the foreseeable future.