Park Partners

Park Partner tasks are varied and do not require special skills - just a love for our City parks. Everyone can help!

Volunteer Opportunities

• Picking up litter
• Planning a park volunteer event
• Checking playground maintenance
• Cleaning picnic tables
• Sweeping hard surfaces
• Clearing tree circles
• Raking leaves
• Weeding
• Maintaining trails
• Filling mutt mitt dispensers
• Reporting any problems to park operations staff

You can choose how much time you want to commit as a Park Partner volunteer. 

Gardening

Both beginners and experienced gardeners can learn about plants while having fun. You can weed, dig, plant, and prune with other volunteers. 

• Deepwood Gardeners meet Thursday mornings at the Historic Deepwood Estate.
• Mission Street Parks Conservancy meets Tuesday mornings at the gardens in Bush’s Pasture Park.
• Lord & Schryver Gardeners meet Thursday mornings.

Deadhead Rose Bushes

Help keep the rose beds at Bush's Pasture Park looking neat and blooming by deadheading a bed or two from June until early October. 

Deadheading means removing faded flowers, which keeps the plants looking tidy and encourages them to bloom again. The park horticulturist hosts a rose pruning workshop every February. 

You can volunteer as an individual, couple, family, or group. You may choose to adopt two or three rose beds or care for more. You will receive an initial lesson in deadheading and then care for your adopted beds weekly at your convenience. 

Pioneer Cemetery

At Pioneer Cemetery, you can learn about our community's history while enjoying the outdoors with others. 

Tasks include:

• Pruning
• General cleanup
• Straightening headstones
• Grooming plots
• Removing moss
• Pulling vines

Gloves and tools are provided. Work parties start at 9 a.m. and finish at noon or in the early afternoon. They are usually scheduled for the second Saturday of the month, the following Monday, and the last Monday of the month from April through October. No work sessions are held on Memorial Day, but volunteers are needed to run the visitor information station during the holiday weekend from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

New volunteers and organized groups should contact the volunteer coordinator to sign up before joining a scheduled work party. Returning volunteers can simply sign the log sheet each day they participate.