Today Lemonade Stand At SUN Park To Support Maintenance Of The Pocket Park

SUN Park

The Friends of SUN Park, a volunteer group which oversee the upkeep of the small corner pocket park located at the corner of NE 47th Street and 47th Avenue NE, invites the community to a Lemonade Sale today at 3:30pm to benefit its Maintenance Fund.

Enjoy "great nature nearby" one of the volunteers told the Laurelhurst Blog.

Originally a large 1920's Bungalow style house was located on the site.  A developer purchased the property, demolished the home, then divided the original lot into three parcels.  Two houses were built on the subdivided lots.

In 2007, the Sun Park group, along with many in the community, attended a meeting along with City representatives, to save the third parcel, on the corner, from being developed.

The plot of land was purchased by a group of Laurelhurst neighbors and friends, through donations to the Cascade Land Conservancy (now Forterra, a nonprofit 501.c.3 organization whose mission is to conserve great lands and create great communities) in order to preserve the small open space from development and create a community park and native plant garden.  

In 2009, SUN Park,named for Saving Urban Nature, was finished, completely funded by private donations.

The Friends of SUN Park maintain the plantings which include a variety of trees, shrubs, ferns, perennials, and groundcovers native to Western Washington. Identification markers provide information on the plants and "the ways in which their use represented the
first ‘grocery store’ and ‘pharmacy’ for local Native American cultures," a volunteer told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff.
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One of the Friends Of SUN Park gardening volunteers added:

SUN Park serves as a demonstration site for those interested in growing native
plants and learning more about the plants indigenous to the region. Gardening
with these plants creates a more nature landscape, promotes wildlife habitats,
and requires less maintenance.

 SUN’s Weed and Sweep Brigade work parties are held the second Saturday of each month at 10am. "Stop by with your favorite garden tool to keep the park in shape," a volunteer told the Laurelhurst Blog.

To support SUN Park, contact Dixie Porter at dixiejoporter@hotmail.com or 206-383-0147  or Janice Camp at 206-849-5778.

Go here for more information.