Yes We Can Be Inspired - Saturday, March 27 at 11 a.m.

Photos of the trash we collected:


















Dear Yes We Can Inwood Friends and Families,


We know it has been a while since you heard from us but it has been a busy winter. We hope you can join us on our next service project on Saturday, March 27 at 11 a.m.






















This project was inspired by 8 year old Inwood resident Caleb who approached me in the park recently to ask how we could organize a clean up of a section of Isham Park where he discovered lots of trash. When I told Caleb we could enlist the help of our neighbors, he was overcome with joy and pride. Let's join Caleb and his friends to clean up a section of Isham Park next Saturday.


Date & Time: Saturday, March 27 at 11 AM
Where: meet at Isham Park and Park Terrace East
What to Bring: plastic grocery bags



Hope to see you in the park!


Warm Regards,
Margaret & Tricia

Learning about our Solar System - November 14, 2009

Yes We Can Inwood has partnered with the Inwood Astronomy Project to get New Yorkers to view the night sky. Local Astronomer Jason Kendall will meet with our group on November 14 at the Inwood Public Library, 2nd floor at 1 PM for a special Q&A about the solar system. Please ask you child what questions she/he would like to have answered and send it to Tricia at tjcapistrano@yahoo.com before November 7. Jason will answer our questions and give us a planetarium show from 1-130PM. We are then welcome to stay for discussions on The Current NASA Missions to Mercury, Saturn, Mars and Earth.

If the clouds permit, Jason will also meet us that evening at 7 PM in Inwood Hill Park so our children can peek through powerful telescopes to see stars, planets, and the moon. We will meet at the entrance at Payson Avenue and Beak Street. Call the hotline (917-529-2359) that day to see if we are going up to the observing location. Check out Jason's website at http://www.moonbeam.net/InwoodAstronomy/mainentrypage.shtml .

Tricia and I are helping to promote stargazing at our kids' schools. If you would like to help by putting up posters in your kids' schools or distribute posters in businesses and in your building, please contact Tricia at tjcapistrano@yahoo.com so she can give you posters.

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Photos from the solar system show:



Aside from the great solar system show, we also spoke with Azhy Chato Hasan
President of Amateur Astronomers Association of Kurdistan - Iraq and his family!

Help Children in Manila

Last September 26, Tropical Storm Ketsana hit Tricia's hometown of Manila. Nearly 14inches of rain fell in 6 hours. Eighty per cent of Manila was underwater. Tricia's family and their house, albeit muddy, are OK. The neighborhoods around them, however, were not so lucky. Homes, belongings, and for some, even lives were lost.

Tricia's sisters and friends adopted a nearby community called Old Nawasa Pumping Station where there are about 260 people and provided them food, clothing, and medicine since the typhoon. They are also starting a reading program to help support the children's education. We thought that our Yes We Can Inwood community can help as well. If you are interested, we invite you to donate new and gently used books for children 10 and below. The community has 112 children under the age of 10. Any books you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Please bring the books during the Nov 7 daffodil planting project or the Nov 14 Astronomy Q&A. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact Tricia at tjcapistrano@yahoo.com.

Yours,
Margaret Peeler & Tricia Capistrano

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Some photos from the Old Nawasa Pumping Station Community:


Water reached the muddy part of the trees.






Kids cleaning up muddy homes.






Tricia's sister, Cecille, with some of the kids in the neighborhood.






Photos of a mini-medical mission.

Daffodil Planting - November 7, 2009

Saturday, November 7, 1-3pm - Daffodil Planting at Isham Park
We will be joined by members of the Make A Wish Foundation who have invited us to plant 510 daffodil bulbs which represent the number of wishes the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York granted during the year to a local child with a life-threatening medical condition. Please meet at the Broadway entrance to Isham Park next to Grandpas Pizza.

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Photos from Daffodil Planting Day:






Friends from the Make a Wish Foundation

Yes We Can Plant Trees - 10/24/2009

You read right, our group (Yes We Can Inwood) has an opportunity to plant trees as part of the MillionTrees NYC event on October 24 in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The planting will be one of dozens of sites around the city and by the day's end, there will be 20,000 more trees firmly rooted in our great city.

We have registered our group and are hoping for a minimum of 15 participants. RSVP is required for this event because lunch and t-shirts will be provided. Please reply to me directly by October 20 if you are attending and the number of people in your group.

Things to know:
* The event runs from 9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
* The location is Shandler Recreation Area in Van Cortlandt Park
situated between Jerome Avenue and the Major Deegan Expressway,
south of East 233 Street. (see attached map and directions) From
Inwood, you could take the BX12 to Fordham Rd & Valentine and
transfer to the BX34 to the site.
* The event will happen rain or shine...but not if there is
lightning. We'll provide ponchos!
* Wear long pants, closed toes shoes, and whatever you don't mind
getting dirty.
* Parks Department will provide a free t-shirt and lunch.
* Dress warmly in layers and bring extra snacks for your children

and here is what is on the horizon for Yes We Can Inwood:

Yes We Can Inwood has partnered with the Inwood Astronomy Project to get New Yorkers to view the night sky.

Tricia and I have volunteered to help promote stargazing at our kids'schools: Amistad and Muscota. If you would like to help by putting up posters in your kids' schools or distribute posters in businesses and in your building, please contact Tricia at tjcapistrano@yahoo.com so she can give you posters.

Local Astronomer Jason Kendall will meet with our group in early November for a special lecture and planetarium show. If the clouds permit, we will then go see the stars. Stay tuned for date and time.

*Save the Date*
Saturday, November 7 Daffodil Planting in Isham Park with the Friends of
Isham Park and the Make a Wish Foundation

In December, we will be back in our beloved Inwood Hill Park to collect
trash and pull weeds.

Thanks for reading this far! Hope to see you in the park.

yours,
Margaret & Tricia

June 6, 2009 - Giraffe Walk to Highbridge Park

On Saturday, June 6, we will gather at the RING Garden (Dyckman Street b/w Broadway & Seaman Avenue) at 10:00 a.m. The hike will start promptly at 10:30am and will follow the outdoor art installation Giraffe Path created by neighborhood children under the direction of Creative Arts Workshops for Kids. We will walk east on Dyckman towards 10th Avenue where we will enter Highbridge Park and then hike up through the park to the water tower.

Participating hikers will be coming from 5 different starting points in northern Manhattan. All hikes will converge at the Highbridge Recreation Center on 173rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. A huge community celebration at Highbridge Park will follow with food, games, activities and performances. The event will close with a music performance by Banda Azul at 2:00 pm. To watch a clip of last year's event, you can visit: www.thegiraffenyc.org
















The event is being organized by The CLIMB project (City Life Is Moving Bodies), part of the Center for Youth Violence Prevention at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Thanks everyone and hope to see you in the park!


More photos on the way to the Highbridge Tower:

Saturday, May 16, 2009 10AM-12PM

This Saturday, we will be teaming up with the GreenApple Corps and Partnerships for Parks, initiatives of the NYC Parks Department, to clean up the waterfront along the Dyckman Fields of Inwood Hill Park. The clean up will be from 11am to 2 pm. Dyckman Fields are located at Dyckman Street by the Hudson River. The Rangers will be there beginning at 10 am to give a talk on Hudson River Ecology.

Since this is a citywide event that gets heavily promoted by the Parks Department, bags and perhaps kids gloves (still working on this part) will be provided. No promises, but there might also be t-shirts and give-aways. I expect the area will be muddy so dress appropriately.

Hope to see you there!

You can view more information here: http://nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/upcoming_events/events_search.php?id=168772

Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 11AM

Staircase to the Woods clean-up. Let's meet at the staircase between the tennis courts and the handball courts. We can enjoy some blooming daffodils and other spring flowers as we pick up trash on the slopes alongside the staircase. Enter the park at 207 & Seaman and bring some plastic bags and gloves if you have them.

Saturday, March 14, 2009 10AM

We will be teaming up with the Urban Park Rangers for a clean up in Inwood Hill Park. Meet at the nature center promptly at 10.

January 16, 2009 - Martin Luther King Day of Service

Hello everyone,

It appears the area we had in mind for the cleanup is still covered in snow. SOOOOO...hears the revised plan: Let's meet at the Isham Street entrance to Inwood Hill Park at 11a.m. Please bring an item(s) (see list below) to donate to Inwood Community Services and we will then, as a group take a walk to the ICS office a few blocks away and deliver our group donation. If we are up to it, we can go on a tromp through the woods. Hope to see you on Monday.

-Margaret

Donations are still being accepted for the following items and can be
dropped off at:
Inwood Community Services
651 Academy Street 2nd Floor (between Broadway and Vermilyea Avenue):

Canned Vegetables
Canned Fruit
Canned Soup
Tuna Fish
Pasta
Boxed Macaroni & Cheese Meals
Rice (1 lb bags)
Canned Beans
Warm Clothing for Children, Men, and Women

-----Inline Message Follows-----
Hi everyone,

"Barack and Michelle Obama are calling on us all to spend Monday volunteering in our communities. In these hard times, we're all in it together. On Monday, can you join a service project near New York?"

-from The Move On website, www.moveon.org

Since there was too much snow during our last scheduled day of service, we thought Martin Luther King Jr Day would be a great day to try again.
(Thanks for the idea Joanna!)

Please join us as we see how many hundreds of bottle caps we can pick up in an hour. The forecast is cold so dress appropriately and please make sure your kids are wearing gloves you don't mind them getting dirty. It might be a bit muddy.

We will meet at the bottom of the West 214th Street steps outside Indian Road Playground.

For extra service points, stop by Inwood Community Services on Academy Street b/w Broadway & Vermilyea and donate some non perishable food and/or warm clothing.

As always, please feel free to submit suggestions for a future service project in the park and invite other families you think would like to participate.

Hope to see you!
Margaret Peeler

December 14, 2008

We would like to invite you and your family to participate in a very homegrown event this Sunday at 11 a.m. in Inwood Hill Park. We are hoping to organize monthly community service projects in our beautiful park as a way to introduce the idea and practice of public service to our children.

















What we envision is monthly volunteer projects where we will pick up litter, remove invasive plants under the guidance of park workers, trail maintenance, etc. The first few meetings will probably be limited to trash removal since it requires little to no support from Parks and we want to see how much interest there is in this project.

Please let us know if you will be attending by replying directly to this e-mail. We will meet at the Shorakapok Rock entrance to the forest next to the soccer field.

Please dress warmly, wear gloves, and bring grocery bags to collect trash.

Margaret Peeler
Tricia Capistrano