Upcoming Events:   
  • 2nd Annual Adopt-a-Tree, Sunday, October 4th
  • Art in the Park,   Sunday, October 11th
  • Jack-O-Lantern Trail, Saturday,  October 24th
 🌞  Summertime Fun

Art in the Park
for Kids!
Friends of Brightwood Park held a camp program, titled ART IN THE PARK  for our younger population.

The teacher was Alex who is amazing. She helped them to use their senses, eyes ears smell touch to make art from nature. It was quite beautiful.  

Hudson, one of our participants,  he said "this was much more fun than I thought I was going to be!". He further said that he would love to come back to the park with his family and make eco-friendly Art - part of the lesson.  

Eco-friendly Art means making Art out of nature whether it’s a stone cairn or a stick village or a flower patch. All this was found in the park and was left for others to enjoy.

​My take kids were very happy and eager  to spend more time.​
Field Notes
Welcome to Summer!
What's Going On?
In Association with the Westfield Recreation Department

PLEIN AIR ART - Class for Kids

Calling All Budding Artists!
Create your very own masterpiece with inspiration from the great outdoors!  Certified art teachers guide you through the creative process of drawing with Brightwood Park as the backdrop.
Sunday October 11
Create your masterpiece as you draw inspiration from the beauty of the park!

Experiment with a wide variety of materials.
Snacks provided
​Walk away with a goody bag.
10:45 to 2:00 PM

Ages 7 - 13

$10 per child

Materials Provided

Brightwood History Walks

The Brightwood area was once a center of African American life in the Westfield-Scotch Plains area.  
TBD - new dates in the Fall
Tours are Led by Rob Lombard.  10:00am to noon.
Samuel Jarvis, 76, of Fanwood Ave - now part of Brightwood Park

A New Birding Group!

Did you know that Brightwood Park is a home to dozens of species of birds?

​ Join our newest group to add to your list.
​
Contact Lisa if you would like to participate 

Invasive Species

 The invasive species swat team meets in the Prospect Street parking lot at 9 A.M. and work for a few hours on most Wednesdays, weather permitting.

Lately we have focused on pulling garlic mustard. This aggressive invasive plant produces thousands of seeds; by pulling the small rosettes now, we prevent much larger seed-producing plants from developing later.

Phil will provide guidance on identifying garlic mustard and other targeted species. 
most Wednesdays
Forest & Park Health

Invasive Species Irradication

After a long winter, we are restarting our invasive plant management activities in Brightwood Park. 

We meet in the Prospect Street parking lot at 9 A.M. and work for a few hours on most Wednesdays, weather permitting.

April 1, was our first day back, and we focused on pulling garlic mustard. This aggressive invasive plant produces thousands of seeds; by pulling the small rosettes now, we prevent much larger seed-producing plants from developing in May and June.

Phil will provide guidance on identifying garlic mustard and other targeted species. If you would like to volunteer, please email Phil to confirm meeting details.

Sustainable Gardening Information for the Curious

Bianca has put together a collection of information and lectures about understanding NJ native plants, how to reforest lands, NJ native trees, how to incorporate ornamentals into your yard - and much more.  Note some of the referenced lectures expire soon.

Hickory Planting Project
We are partnering with Rutgers for a germination study of Mockernut Hickory. Initiated and led by Jean Epiphan, Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent at Rutgers,  it is designed to counter the regeneration debt of our forests. 

The idea is simple: we will plant them like squirrels do -  burying nuts in lots of places - and then test the germination rates to see what works better.   The idea is to  get Mockernut Hickories growing in Brightwood Park. 
​
Last December, volunteers planted nuts along the trail parallel to Prospect Park. We concentrated on planting them under existing beech trees to try to remediate the anticipated canopy loss from to beech leaf disease.
​
In early May, we will begin tracking the germination. 
Until then, we are monitoring that the flags and signs remain in place and if there is any form of digging for the nuts. 
-Bianca Wright 

Planting Pines and Hollies - How are We Doing?

Since 2023 we have planted 128 American Hollies (Ilex opaca) and Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida). They are great evergreen trees providing berries for birds in the winter as well as year-round hiding spots for them. Even better: deer do not like to nibble on them so they do not need any wire cages for protection.

This spring we would like to see how they have been faring. Anyone who wants to track through the 4 reforestation areas in the park is welcome to help!
photos by Bianca Wright
membership

Volunteer Spotlight: John Linderman

FROM COMPUTER ENGINEER
​TO WISTERIA AND WEEDS

Meet John Linderman, aka JPL, one of the Founding Fathers of Friends of Brightwood Park.

When the town was contemplating changes that would destroy the ecosystem of this natural area, JPL sprang into action along with many others to form an interest group to keep Brightwood Park a nature preserve.  This effort eventually became The Friends of Brightood Park, now a 1000+ member group working to both restore and preserve the ecology of the park and, partnering with to town to entice more people to visit and enjoy the peaceful beauty of this little gem.

You might have seen JPL in the park with his clippers or his hand saw. He became interested in the park when the group came together to clear out the junk after it had been used as an unauthorized dump for years.

Some of the early members of the group also had botany expertise and noted that  the invasive wisteria (despite their beautiful lavender flowers) was actually killing trees in the park. JPL got to work with his saw removing hundreds of vines. Soon the group expanded and began concentrating on invasive plant removal throughout the park,  especially the Asian knot weed that had obstructed the view of the pond.

There’s a fresh crop of invasives every spring which compete with native plants for sunlight and moisture, and JPL with his signature beard and clippers is always ready and willing to help in
this never-ending task.

JPL spent years studying engineering and computer science at MIT and landed in NJ at Bell Labs in 1973. Lucky for us, he is also a nature lover! When he could get away from the labs, he spent vacations hiking in New England, the Rockies, and western national parks. He has taken river trips in Arizona, Utah and Alaska.

JPL is truly dedicated to Brightwood Park as he states, “Brightwood is a little corner of nature right here in my neighborhood. I’m happy to contribute to preserving it and sharing it with others.”
​
Thank you JPL for all you do make our park more beautiful for our community and beyond!!

Volunteers Needed!
Join our Forest Restoration team and work on planting and protecting trees,  native plant gardens and maintaining trails.
Looking for creative people, writers, graphic designers, artists, art directors, social media contributors, and generally organized people to join the marketing committee. 
​​If you are interested in helping with our children's nature programs in the park, please contact us.
The Friends of Brightwood Park are working to:

  • preserve & restore the park  as a nature sanctuary
  • remove invasive species that threaten native plants & trees​
  • promote hiking, walking, fishing, birdwatching and activities in harmony with the habitat
  • offer nature and art programs for all ages​​​
General Membership is Free
and includes a
​quarterly newsletter
​Become a Member!

Follow the Latest on our Instagram
@friendsofbrightwoodpark

The website editor is Karrie Hanson.  All photos are by Chuan-Chu Chou, unless otherwise noted.  

The Friends of Brightwood Park work to restore the ecosystem and the trails in the park, run programs to encourage visits and teach children about nature, and share our learnings about invasive species, forest restoration and the plants and animals in the park.  We also are deeply interested in learning about the period before the park was built,  when it was a largely African American neighborhood in Westfield.

Brightwood Park is a true gem and a nature sanctuary in town we hope to see you there!