Senior class springs into community project for Kirkside Park!
Roxbury town fathers heard of a new venture by the RCS Class of 2007 at its March town meeting. The senior class has created its own "whole class" service project this year: Community Day in the Park on Saturday, June 9. The event, wholly organized, promoted and staffed by the graduating seniors, will invite everyone to Kirkside Park to watch a bragging match between the RCS varsity baseball team and the vintage Roxbury Nine. Chicken BBQ, courtesy of the Rotary, will be sold "flipped" and served by the seniors.
This ambitious undertaking will require the entire class to collaborate on one event rather than working individually on unrelated service projects. All proceeds will support future plantings to brighten Kirkside Park (tulips!). "This clearly shows how much these young people have taken ownership of that site," Community Resources Director Peg Ellsworth told the Town Board. Most of Roxbury's seniors have worked with Ellsworth for years on park landscaping and Turn of the Century Days. She urged town officials to support the project wholeheartedly and gave kudos to the students for leveraging their talents on a more comprehensive mission than any of them could have managed alone.
The next Town Board meeting will be held at the Grand Gorge Civic Center on Monday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. The Roxbury town board meeting traditionally moves to Grand Gorge every April, and this year the August meeting is also scheduled for the Civic Center to better accommodate residents who live in Grand Gorge and northern parts of the township.
In other town news, Roxbury will be applying for a Main Street Revitalization grant for the hamlet, similar to the one in Grand Gorge that will bring new facades to its Main Street, starting this summer. The sidewalks repair project is ready to bid and should get underway in the warmer months.
Distribution of a promotional piece and other marketing efforts for "Railride into Yesteryear" heritage tourism Saturdays are underway. These Saturdays (May 26, July 7, and September 1) will bring trainloads of visitors to Roxbury via the DURR to enjoy "all the agreeable pursuits of 1898" throughout the hamlet, with no parking hassles. Building on the success of "Turn of the Century Days," Roxbury is kicking its heritage tourism up a notch, thanks to a National Parks Service "Preserve America" grant and increased community participation. Call the Parks Department at 607 326-3722 or stay tuned to www.roxburyny.com to learn how you can join the fun.