Greetings!
There’s something magical about the seasons. If you take a walk through any one of your Cincinnati Parks at this moment, you’ll see how beautiful the icicles appear around the branches of nearly 200,000 trees within the City of Cincinnati’s park system.
Our team is excited to share our February edition of Friends of Parks eNews. Through many partnerships and friendships, we’re happy to share historical information and news of great projects happening within your Parks.
Wishing you and yours a Happy Valentines Day. Thank YOU for loving Cincinnati Parks!
With gratitude,
Jennifer Hafner Spieser
Executive Director
Cincinnati Parks Foundation, the official philanthropic partner of Cincinnati Parks, is committed to building broad-based private/public partnerships supporting the conservation and enhancement of our city's parks and greenspaces.
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Welcome our Newest Team Members
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We are pleased to welcome our newest team members to the Foundation. Meet Bettina Belucci and Jen Devine!
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Bettina Bellucci, Executive Assistant, joins the Cincinnati Parks Foundation with over 25 years of experience in office management, non-profit administration and chief executive support. She loves nature, art and music and is excited to work for the Parks Foundation to help keep our parks thriving for all to enjoy.
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Jen Devine, Development Associate, joins our team after spending 20+ years in the Design and Advertising industry. She's passionate about our Cincinnati Parks and is excited to help make a difference in our community. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her family, and visiting as many parks as she can!
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Follow Us!
Now it's easier than ever to share your experiences with us! The next time you're at a Cincinnati Park, capture the beauty with a photo and simply tag us with #lovecincyparks. Get out there and show us what you've got!
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook, so you can view the many gorgeous photos of our parks.
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This month's volunteer spotlight is on Susan Anthony, a long-time Parks Foundation supporter. As a Smale Riverfront Park docent, Susan has been giving tours there for 5 years. She loves sharing tidbits about the park's features and the history of the riverfront. As a past Cincinnati Parks Foundation board member, Susan co-chaired a CPF fundraising event held at Playhouse in the Park for 10 years. Susan contributes "Mission Moments" for our monthly eNews, sharing favorite insights like this month's story about a Civil War hero who is memorialized in Washington Park.
Susan and her husband, Tom, who reside in Columbia Township, recently hosted their daughter's wedding in Smale Park!
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Built in 1894 to provide water pressure for Walnut Hills, it stands on the high ground in the park. Designed by the notable William Hannaford it is both practical and artistic. The tower is called a stand pipe tower. Take a moment to get an up close look. You will find gargoyles, arches and outstanding brick work. At one time, there was an observation deck on the top. Originally it had a copper spire but that was removed in 1943 for the war effort. When the city water system was modernized in 1916, the water tower was considered obsolete. Today it still brings an artistic presence to the park and acts as a communications tower as well. - Jinny Berton
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Monument in Washington Park
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Washington Park
is home to some of our city’s first Civil War memorials. Brigadier General Robert Latimer McCook (of the famed “fighting McCooks") was a Cincinnati lawyer of Irish descent. He organized the 9th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in early 1861, a unit comprised mostly of recent German immigrants. The unit trained at Camp Dennison with a German-speaking drill sergeant, and was regarded as the best trained unit in the Union army.
McCook and 15 family members served the Union during the Civil War. It is likely that they enlisted right here in
Washington Park
, epicenter of the German community in Cincinnati at this time, as well as a center of army recruitment for men of Irish, German and African descent.
McCook died in an ambush in August 1862 at the age of 34. While the North and South accounts of McCook’s death are quite different, the northern version claims that McCook was laying helpless in an ambulance wagon and was brutally assassinated in Huntsville, AL. “Terrible retribution” was reportedly dealt with, by the 9th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, whose members revered their leader. Men were hanged and farmhouses burned.
McCook’s father and 3 of his 8 brothers also died in the Civil War. McCook is buried in
Spring Grove Cemetery
. Within Washington Park’s gated dog park, Brigadier General McCook is honored with a white marble portrait bust (Sculptor, Leopold Fettweiss) on a tall granite pedestal in 1878.
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Burnet Woods gets a new sign!
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We welcome you to this 90-acre park, featuring our brand new sign! Thank you Clifton Town Meeting for making this possible! Here, you'll find several hiking trails, a fishing lake, a historic bandstand, playgrounds, shelters, picnic areas and a disc golf course.
The Audubon Society
named the park an Important Birding Area.
The Trailside Nature Center, located next to the lake, has a nature library, crafts room, meeting space, exhibits and the Wolff Planetarium, which is the oldest planetarium west of the Allegheny Mountains. Twenty people can sit under its intimate dome to view the stars in all seasons and all latitudes. The planetarium may also be reserved for private functions or school groups. Visit our
site
for more details!
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Burnet Woods is located at 3251 Brookline Drive
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We'd like to extend our thanks to Nancy Dysart Martin and Judy Martin from Matinee Musicale who recently gave a $10,550 donation in memory of Louise Dieterle Nippert. A beautiful grove of trees will be planted at
Burnet Woods
this Spring with this generous gift to Cincinnati Parks Foundation. Thank you!
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