Opportunities for building community abound in October.
This Sunday, October 10th, volunteers will have the chance to learn about basic bicycle maintenance before heading out to clean up local bike lanes. Events begin in the Atrium of City Hall at noon and run until about 1pm. We will ride our bicycles through Bushnell Park and go from there, stopping wherever we need to in order to clean up litter and debris. Volunteers are asked to supply their own shovels, rakes, brooms, and/or gloves. All garbage will be hauled away by bicycle and disposed of (or recycled) appropriately. When finished cleaning, volunteers can head over to Red Rock Tavern for a late lunch/early dinner/snack. First round of non-alcoholic beverage is on the event organizer, for the first ten participants. This event is a 10/10/10 Work Party in affiliation with 350.org.
The following weekend, “Celebrate the Year of the Urban Tree” is taking place at the Memorial Baptist Church (142 Fairfield Avenue) starting at nine in the morning and continuing until one that afternoon. Thirty new trees will be planted, lunch will be provided, and there will be music. To reserve your free lunch, call 860-951-7694. This event is a collaboration of the Knox Parks Foundation, the City of Hartford
and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
The Source to Sea Cleanup, originally scheduled for October 2nd, has been moved to October 17th due to the possibility of flooding. The Hartford location for this day of volunteer work is at the confluence of the Park River and the Connecticut River, which is accessible (by bicycle or on foot) from the path that runs between from Riverfront Plaza to Charter Oak Landing. The original event was scheduled for 10am to 1pm, and it seems as if the time will be the same for the rescheduled event. The contact person for this can be reached at (860) 729-9603 or oiseaux@gmail.com.
And if you’re just here for the party, well, there is something for you too. On October 23, the Hooker Day Parade will be winding around downtown. In a message to possible parade participants, Hartford.com writes: “With your help, it could become the weirdest, awesomest, funnest, most made-up, rag-tag, candy filled parade in New England.” Think of it as a chance to try out your halloween costume. The parade starts at 2pm; raindate is October 24th. For more details, check back to Hartford.com. If feeling compulsive about cleaning, sprucing up the streets after they are covered with candy and wayward plastic necklaces will likely be welcomed.
