Prospect Park

The Daily Plant : Monday, March 6, 2006

Prospect Park Recognizes The Impact Of Its “Army Of Volunteers”

Richard Engquist remembers when volunteering at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park was a lonely undertaking. More than 32 years ago when he started scooping up debris from the edges of the Park’s paths and waterways, there was no Volunteers Office in the park to give him support. He was pretty much on his own.

How times have changed. Last year, 6,267 volunteers gave more than 26,000 hours of their time to Prospect Park. Not only did these volunteers help keep the park clean; they spread 5,165 wheelbarrow loads of mulch, planted 3,103 flowers and scrapped and painted 259 benches. Now that there’s a small army of volunteers and a fulltime Park Volunteers office, Engquist is certainly not lonely. But that doesn’t mean he’s satisfied. "There’s much more work to be done," he said

Engquist was one of a number of volunteers honored last week at the 20^th Annual Prospect Park Volunteer Recognition Breakfast, held at the park’s restored Picnic House. Speaking at the event, Commissioner Adrian Benepe thanked Engquist and the other log-time volunteers for their unflagging determination to help the park over the years.

"You didn’t run away," he said. "You stayed and fought even when government largely had to abandon urban parks. So from the bottom of our collective municipal hearts, I’d like to thank you and encourage you to keep doing what you are doing."

Joining Benepe for the event was First Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanagh, Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel and Prospect Park Administrator and Prospect Park Alliance President Tupper Thomas. Thomas took to the stage to announce that the Mary Cregg Award, given in recognition of a volunteer who has given more than 200 hours of service to the park in one year, would go to Mark Goldberg (who could not be present to receive it). Thomas then presented the Administrator’s Award to volunteer Jay Dagress for his more than 500 hours of service to the park since 1995.

Volunteers who regularly help at park attractions such as the Lefferts Historic House and the Prospect Park Audubon Center were invited up to the stage to receive certificates of appreciation. The park’s Volunteer Office also recognized the many organizations and corporations whose members and employees volunteer in the park with everything from pulling weeds to administrative assistance and providing information to visitors.

Elected officials on hand to add their expressions of thanks were Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, New York State Senator Carl Andrews, and New York City Council Members Yvette Clark and David Yassky. Clark made a special point of thanking the young people who volunteer in Prospect Park, urging them to "Take ownership for the park, so it will always be something we can take pride in."

If they needed any inspiration, they could look to volunteer Alan Thomson, a retired minister whose eight years of service to the park have included leading the weekly crew that looks after the Vale of Cashmere and the Rose Garden. As Volunteers Office Coordinator Jackie Perez prepared to present Thomson with a certificate of achievement, she noted that he had recently moved from Brooklyn to Flushing and thus had to step down as captain of the weekly crew. But, she added, Thomson promised her that he would continue volunteering at Prospect Park from time to time. "And I didn’t even have to twist his arm," she noted with a smile.

"The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere."

(1906-2001)