Steve Mardon invites you to work together
to improve Desmare Playground.
There is a meeting this morning at 9 a.m. to share ideas for improvements at Desmare Playground. Desmare Playground is located opposite the cemetery on Esplanade. Two priorities have been established:fixing the swings, several of which are held together by duct tape,
and fixing the front gate, so toddlers can’t dart out onto the street.
These two items are important but your input is even more important. What else would you or your children like to see there?
Everyone is invited to an informal get-together to share ideas for
improvements this Saturday (July 23rd) at the playground, from 9 to 10 a.m. All are welcome, kids included. If you can’t make it Saturday but have a suggestion, feel free to email Steve Mardon at
[email protected]
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In 1999, J’Annine Sullivan, one of the original Earthlings group, said her group achieved its goals largely through grassroots organizing. “A bunch of us had babies in the neighborhood, and we’d go by Desmare and it was a burned-down shelter, a safety hazard. There was no place for us to play.” She says then-NORD director Vic Richards agreed to match the funds that Earthlings raised, and Friends of NORD offered to act as the group’s fiscal agent to save them the trouble of forming a nonprofit organization.
Earthlings raised $45,000 with fundraising events like a “little Jazz Fest,” which featured Coco Robichaux, the Iguanas, and other local musicians, and an LSED grant written with State Sen. Lambert Boissiere and Rep. Mitch Landrieu. Desmare is now one of the spiffier playgrounds in the city. “It is used; it’s a diverse group,” says Sullivan. “That was our goal. We accomplished it, and it was a hard road.”
After finishing Desmare, Earthlings teamed up with the Lakeview Booster Club in 2000 and 2001 to plan two “Picnic in the Park” fundraisers for Delgado Playground.
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In 2007, the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association in conjunction with HikeForKatreena.com planted 12 trees in Desmare Playground. Before and after films are below:
A video of Desmare Playground BEFORE the trees were planted.
A video of Desmare Playground AFTER the trees were planted. The trees are all flourishing nicely.
