Friends of Jennie Drake Park selected Bryan P. Jenkins as Volunteer of the Year for 2020.  Bryan is a well-known and widely respected professional in the area of television production. His career at Clark Atlanta University began in the 1990s, when he trained more than a thousand students to work in various positions during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.  Bryan’s freelance work has aired on BET, ESPN, WSB-TV, and other media. A resident of the Collier Heights neighborhood, he is known for his service through the Collier Heights Community Association and the Jennie Drake Park Steering Committee, for which he serves as vice president.  In 2018, he was selected to the board of directors of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.   Bryan is the third JD Park friend to be recognized as volunteer of the year.  Previous recipients are Miriam Miller (2018) and James H. Gantner (2019).

From 11 AM to 2 PM on January 18, 2021, the Friends of Jennie Drake Park hosted a volunteer session in observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.  We had 16 volunteers from the community and also three (3) representatives from Park Pride who thanked us for our service and assisted us. They were: Rachel Maher, director of communications; Teri Nye, park designer; and Ruth Pimentel, project manager, Atlanta Community Schoolyards. The mission of Park Pride is “to engage the community to activate the power of parks.” Jennie Drake Park is a registered Park Pride “friends” group.  

Annuals from the City of Atlanta Parks Department

Jennie Drake Park

Saturday, June 6 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Visit Jennie Drake Park with Ecoaddendum.  Jennie Drake Park hosts a high diversity of trees and wildflowers, including uncommon and sensitive species such as Umbrella Magnolia, Wild Geranium, and Blood Root. Our timing should be ideal for seeing some of the high value species found here. And at this time of year we may also hear some of our migratory songbirds just coming back from winter homes in Central and South America, some of whom may nest in this forest in the summer season.

We’ll walk on natural and unpaved trails, fairly flat terrain with small hills, about a mile at most.

This walk is offered in partnership with Friends of Jennie Drake Park.

 To register, visit:  http://www.ecoaddendum.org/event/jennie-drake-park/

NOTE:  Walks are limited to 10 persons.  We will practice physical distancing, and we ask participants to wear masks.

We had a productive session on Saturday, May 16th. Many thanks to our volunteers! There were seven of us, and we planted about a dozen Eastern Redbud saplings in the park, primarily along the Oldknow trail and on the north side (West Peek). of the park.  Look for purple blossoms in the early spring, if not in 2021, perhaps in 2022. 

On Saturday, November 16, the Friends of Jennie Drake Park honored James H. Gantner as Volunteer of the Year. Jim has been a resident of Collier Heights since 2009. In 2012, he was one of the neighborhood residents who participated in the visioning process. When the steering committee for the park was formed in 2013, he became a member. Since that time, he has been an active and reliable volunteer, performing tasks in the park, taking photographs, and preparing publicity for the park. We are grateful to Jim for his loyal and valuable service. He is the second Jennie Drake Park “friend” to be recognized as volunteer of the year. Our 2018 honoree was Miriam Miller.

Students and others volunteering to work on a beautiful Saturday morning!

At the July Steering Committee Meeting, Kathryn Kolb of Eco Addendum was the guest speaker.  Kathryn is a Master Naturalist, and consults green space managers, gardeners and homeowners on how to preserve our native urban forests.  She explained the importance of Atlanta’s urban tree canopy and the ways it can be protected.

www.ecoaddendum.org

The winners of the 2019 Photo Contest were:

Hassan Hashim- High School

Syjae Rashid- Middle School

Jydie Rashid- Elementary School