►
Description
Members of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy gather at the 15th Annual Party in the Park at Franklin Park to celebrate our beautiful park system and benefit the Justine Mee Liff Fund for the Emerald Necklace.
A
Alright,
let
us
begin
again
thank
you
to
the
Boston
Pops
for
the
most
beautiful
part
of
the
year
and
that
beautiful
beautiful
start
welcome
to
the
15th
party
in
the
park,
and
this
year
we
are
so
excited
to
celebrate
the
20th
anniversary
of
the
Emerald
Necklace
Conservancy.
This
is
a
big
year
for
us,
so
we
are
doing
things
in
a
bigger
way.
For
one.
This
year
we
invited
a
lot
of
men
wave,
hello
men.
They
look
stunning.
A
Also
this
year,
for
the
first
time
we
are
gathered
in
the
biggest
Park
in
Boston
Franklin
Park
Franklin
Park
was
the
final
park
to
be
built
in
the
Emerald
Necklace.
It
is
the
largest
park
and
Frederick
Law
Olmstead
himself
called
it
the
crown
jewel
a
hundred
and
fifty
years
ago,
the
good
people
of
Boston
so
strongly
believed
in
the
need
for
this
expansive
park
that
they
directed
the
city
to
borrow
two
million
dollars
to
build
it
in
today's
dollars.
A
That
would
be
fifty
million
dollars
and
thank
goodness,
they
did
because
never
again,
with
this
amount
of
land
be
available
at
any
price.
Today,
it
is
used
by
all
members
of
the
Boston
Public,
Schools
and
nearby
colleges
use
these
fields
for
their
sporting
events
and
track
needs.
The
Franklin,
Park
Golf
Course,
is
open
to
all,
and
just
last
year,
in
this
very
spot
that
you
are
sitting
now
more
than
7,000
people
gathered
to
hear
a
landmark
concert
by
the
BSO
and
the
Pops,
many
of
them
never
having
been
to
a
concert
before
at
500
acres.
A
This
is
a
lot
of
land
to
upkeep.
So
when
we
ask
the
communities-
and
we
ask
the
partnership
and
the
caretakers
what
they
needed,
the
answer
was
water.
There
was
no
drinking
water
in
this
part
hearing
this
the
15th
anniversary
committee
stepped
up
and
made
a
commitment,
and
it
would
be
so
nice
if
the
women
on
the
hand
side
of
this
tent
would
listen
to
what
they
did.
A
The
15th
anniversary
committee
that
worked
so
hard
to
put
together
this
Park
decided
to
raise
money
for
drinking
fountains
and
I'm
so
happy
to
say
that
they
exceeded
their
goal
as
they
normally
do.
They
raised
a
hundred
and
fifty
thousand
dollars,
mostly
amongst
themselves,
to
build
five
drinking
fountains
for
Franklin
Park.
A
six
will
go
near
the
Shattuck
visitor
center
in
the
Back
Bay
fens.
A
A
Twenty
years
ago-
and
it's
hard
to
believe,
there
was
no
group
to
steward
the
future
and
the
survival
of
the
1,100
acres.
We
know
as
the
Emerald
Necklace
that
extends
for
miles
from
the
heart
of
Boston,
all
the
way
out
to
rosin,
Dale
and
back.
But
then
some
passionate
advocates
stepped
up
and
formed
the
Emerald
Necklace
Conservancy.
Please
welcome
to
the
stage
the
president
of
the
Conservancy
Karen
Monte
product
and
board
chair
Ben
Taylor.
B
C
C
But
a
century
and
a
half
ago
mr.
Olmstead
could
not
have
predicted
how
neglect
and
ill-advised
changes
to
his
design
would
result
in
the
flooding
of
the
muddy
river
that
catastrophe
in
1996
inspired
people
from
the
private
and
public
sectors
to
prevent
it
from
ever
happening
again
and
in
1998
the
Emerald
Necklace
Conservancy
was
formed
to
protect
and
preserve
Olmsted's
Emerald
Necklace
parks.
C
C
But
advocating
for
our
parts
is
a
never-ending
vocation
for
volunteers,
donors
and
the
community,
and
the
Conservancy
continues
to
lead
the
way
with
multiple
programs
and
events.
Rumor
has
it
that
Olmsted
himself
continues
to
educate
and
enlighten
new
generations
with
guided
tours
through
the
day
in
the
dirt
volunteer
programs
and
our
Green
Team
harmful
invasive
species
are
removed,
year-round
to
help
maintain
the
parks,
appearance
and
health.
The
trees.
G
F
C
Since
2002,
the
Conservancy
has
raised
millions
to
support
the
Emerald
Necklace
Justine
me
lift
fund
with
the
unique
and
lively
event
party
in
the
park,
conceived
and
started
by
Justine
lifts
friend
and
Conservancy
trustee
Wendy
Shattuck
each
year.
In
the
midst
of
the
parks,
one
of
the
biggest
events
in
New,
England
magically
comes
together
and
the
guests
are
as
colorful
and
bright
as
the
flora
that
surrounds
them.
It's.
I
J
C
A
I
Can
I
have
your
attention
just
for
a
moment,
because
this
is
a
very
important
award
that
we
only
give
once
a
year.
Thank
you.
This
award
is
presented
to
a
person
each
year,
who
represents
my
mom's
entrepreneurial
spirit
and
her
unique
ability
to
bring
people
together
in
our
15th
year.
I
couldn't
imagine
a
more
fitting
awardee
than
the
one
we
have
today
to
set
the
tone
for
the
future.
I
L
It's
just
working
great
Thank,
You
Ursula,
and
thank
you
to
the
Emerald
Necklace
Conservancy.
It
is
really
an
extraordinary
honor
to
be
receiving
the
lift
Spirit
Award
today,
on
behalf
of
mothers
out
front,
although
I
never
met
your
mom
Ursula
from
all
I
have
heard
about
her.
It
certainly
feels
that
her
spirit,
her
passion,
her
creativity,
her
joy
and
her
vision
for
the
Boston
Parks
is
with
us
here
today.
L
L
After
I
became
a
mother,
I
was
struck
with
despair
about
the
kind
of
world.
My
children
would
be
growing
up
in
faced
with
the
reality
of
climate
change,
in
addition
to
the
whole
range
of
harm's
caused
by
our
dependence
on
dirty,
energy,
I
felt
powerless
to
do
anything
alone,
but
I,
soon
teamed
up
with
another
mother
of
young
kids,
Vanessa
rule
who
shared
those
same
concerns
and
together
we
started
mothers
out
front.
L
We
believed
that
if
mothers
joined
together
in
their
fierce
determination
to
protect
their
children,
we
could
build
the
political
power
to
push
for
a
transition
away
from
fossil
fuels
to
clean
and
renewable
energy,
thereby
ensuring
a
healthy
climate
and
planet
for
our
children.
In
building
a
movement
of
mothers
to
address
climate
change,
we
set
out
to
follow
in
the
footsteps
of
women
who
have
played
leading
roles
in
so
many
movements
for
social
change
in
American
history,
from
abolitionism
to
women's
suffrage,
to
the
environmental
movement.
L
Women
who
recognized
that
the
predominant
social,
mores
and
business-as-usual
practices
of
their
times
were
unjust
and
would
only
be
righted
if
women
made
their
voices
heard
and
took
action.
Mothers
out
fronts,
most
important
job
is
enabling
the
leadership
of
mothers
and
other
care
of
government
givers
who
join
us.
We
provide
the
training,
the
tools
and
guidance
mothers
need
to
work
in
teens
to
wage
campaigns
in
towns
and
cities
and
at
the
statewide
level
our
moms
meet
with
elected
officials
and
Industry
CEOs.
We
testify
at
town
and
city
council
meetings.
L
We
line
the
hallways
of
state
capitol
buildings,
we
tag
gas
leaks.
We
testify
at
dpu
hearings
we
strategize
with
allies,
including
the
Emerald
Necklace
Conservancy.
We
rally
we
make
phone
calls,
we
create
memes
and
retweet.
In
short,
we
build
our
power,
we
flex
our
collective
muscle
and
we
win
campaigns
working
clique.
L
Working
closely
with
any
number
of
amazing
allies
here
in
Massachusetts,
we
have
successfully
convinced
over
six
towns
and
cities
to
use
more
renewable
energy
in
their
electricity
mix.
We've
helped
to
stop
a
pipeline
that
would
transport
more
dirty,
fracked
gas
from
Pennsylvania,
and
we
have
persuaded
our
region's
three
largest
utilities
to
prioritize
fixing
the
big
gas
leaks
that
pollute
our
air,
kill
our
precious
trees
and
contribute
to
climate
change,
and
so
much
more.
L
We
learned
how
to
do
this
work
here
in
Massachusetts
and
in
five
years
we
have
expanded
our
organizing
to
eight
other
states.
Our
goal
to
have
hundreds
of
thousands
of
mothers
all
across
the
country
involved
in
campaigns
focused
on
moving
from
dirty
to
clean
and
renewable
energy,
thereby
protecting
the
climate
for
our
children.
L
We
are
all
every
one
of
us
affected
now
by
climate
change
and
the
many
other
impacts
of
our
dependence
on
dirty
energy.
Here
in
Boston,
it
might
be
our
experience
of
bomb
cyclones
having
our
homes
and
city
streets
flooded,
watching
our
coastlines
wash
away
experiencing
ever
increasing
rates
of
asthma
or
losing
our
precious
trees
to
methane
leakage.
We
are
all
affected,
but
we
can
also
all
act
so
I
invite
you
to
join
us.
You
don't
have
to
be
a
scientist
or
a
policy
expert,
an
activist
or
an
environmentalist.
L
You
only
have
to
care
about
preserving
a
livable
climate
and
habitable
planet
for
our
children.
So
thank
you
again.
It
is
truly
such
an
honor
to
be
here
with
all
of
you
today
celebrating
the
Emerald
Necklace
Conservancy,
our
beautiful
parks
and
the
wonderfully
its
wonderfully
inspiring
legacy
of
Justine
Liffe.
Thank
you
very
much.
A
And
now
you've
been
very
patient.
We
are
going
to
invite
you
to
enjoy
your
lunch.
Your
company,
the
beautiful
hats,
feel
free
to
go
visit,
the
men
table
and
one
little
bit
of
business.
There
are
still
some
raffle
tickets
left
for
this
gem:
a
Birkin
bag.
You
know
that
you
have
to
wait
four
years
to
buy
one,
but
you
have
the
chance
to
go
home
with
this
today
and
support
the
future
of
the
Emerald
Necklace
volunteers
will
be
coming
by
your
table
with
tickets
to
sell
during
lunch
and
don't
forget
it
is
a
working
lunch.