Memorial Park Conservancy, Inc.

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.

--Rachel Carson

Saturday, September 29, 2007, 8 a.m. - noon
Volunteers to Renew Bush Grove

Contact Vannessa Wade, Volunteer Coordinator, Houston Parks and Recreation Department (Vannessa.Wade@cityofhouston.net) or Denise Manderscheid, MPC, (denise@memorialparkconservancy.org) to join in refurbishing Bush Grove across from the Memorial Park Golf Clubhouse. Thank you very much!

Join us for The Green Gala - Wednesday, October 17, 7 p.m.

Memorial Park Conservancy will celebrate the present by honoring the memory of Miss Ima Hogg and our Life Members:

Terry Hershey

Sadie Gwin Blackburn

Claire Caudill

Frank Smith

On Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 7:00 p.m. The Green Gala will be held at the River Oaks Country Club. Kate and Steve Gibson and Gaye Lovett Davis and John Wilson Kelsey will co-chair the event. Tables are available for $20,000 (Benefactor), $10,000 (Sponsor), and $5,000 (Patron). Individual tickets are $500 per person. Funds raised by the Gala will benefit the ongoing programs and enhancement efforts of Memorial Park Conservancy in cooperation with Houston Parks & Recreation Department.

Memorial Park Conservancy’s mission is to protect, preserve and enhance Memorial Park in accordance with the wishes of the donor, Ima Hogg. This 1503-acre park is located in central Houston and is among the largest urban parks in the state. For more information, please contact Sally Tyler, 713-863-8403 or visit our website to reserve your spot: www.memorialparkconservancy.org.

bridgeBASH Kickoff

Memorial Park bridgeBASH - Kickoff Party

Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - 5:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Memorial Park Conservancy (MPC) invites Houston's Athletic, Environmental & Professional Organizations to co-host. Over 5,000 active, urban, environmentally-conscious, design-oriented professionals will be invited to attend. Featuring Belvedere Vodka, Glenmorangie Scotch & 10 Cane Rum from Moët Hennessy USA

A fun social to unite those who love the Park, introduce the proposed pedestrian bridge design, & promote

bridgeBASH!

Free Admission/Cash Bar

Ibiza Lounge Next Door, 2450 Louisiana St, 77006

www.ibizaloungenextdoor.com

Memorial Park bridgeBASH - Taste of the Park

Saturday, January 26, 2008, 7:30 - 11:00 p.m.

Featuring signature brands from Moët Hennessy USA.

Beer from St. Arnold Brewing Company

A fabulous party for 500, featuring signature brands from Moët Hennessy USA.

Houston’s renowned chefs are invited to present their specialty dishes in support of Memorial Park.

With a well-connected host committee of 60+, we anticipate selling out in December 2007.

Benefiting MPC’s pedestrian/cyclist bridge proposal: A living bridge.A green solution. Access for all!

Admission: $85, or $75 before January 1

Sponsorships: from $500 - $25,000

Architecture Center Houston, Bayou Place II

315 Capitol, Suite 120, Houston, Texas 77002

www.aiahouston.org/ArCH.aspx

RDA Charrette Judges(l to r): HPARD Director Joe Turner, Heidi Eagleton, Royse/Eagleton
Architects and Larry Whaley, Haynes Whaley Engineering

On August 6th at the University of Houston School of Architecture, 28 teams (the most ever) of well over 90 professional and student architects and engineers presented their plans at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture for a pedestrian/bicycle bridge design for Memorial Park Drive. In collaboration with the Rice Design Alliance, Houston Parks and Recreation Department and Memorial Park Conservancy, participants were challenged to propose a design to unite the north and south parts of Memorial Park, Houston's largest urban park, via a pedestrian bridge. Participants were asked to design a bridge that will serve as a landmark for the city and connect an existing bike path along Memorial Drive. The bridge will provide a measure of safety for pedestrians crossing the park, and shift pedestrian raffic away from ecologically sensitive areas. In addition to the disjointed trail system, mobility and parking are major issues during peak times; weekday evenings and weekends. Parking facilities located south of Memorial Drive are under-utilized primarily due to inaccessibility and users having to cross Memorial Drive at grade to access park facilities on the north side. At grade crossings create safety concerns for pedestrians particularly along Memorial Drive due to travel speeds and site distance at the west entrance where Memorial Drive and Woodway merge traveling eastbound.

Houston Arboretum & Nature Center

Upcoming Activities:

Nature Story Time - enjoy a story about a Texas animal and then make a fun animal craft. Offered on the first Sunday of each month.

Animal feedings Saturdays at 1:30 p.m. - Meet an Arboretum naturalist and learn about the animals in the Discovery Room. Then enjoy a

guided nature walk starting at 2 p.m.

Birding classes take flight at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center

The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center and the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory are collaborating to offer a "Beginning Bird Watching"

two evening classes at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center,located in the southwest corner of Memorial Park, from 7 to 9 p.m.,

followed by an all-day field trip to practice birding skills. The "Beginning Bird Watching" course will focus on the proper use of binoculars

and spotting scopes as well as methods of identifying birds by noting field marks and using field guides and checklists of local species.

Class dates are October 3 and 11 with a field trip slated for Saturday, October 20. " Bill Eley, Conservation Science Director of the Gulf

Coast Bird Observatory - instructor.

Over 623 species of birds have been documented in Texas. Each spring and fall the Gulf Coast area is witness to the migration of

millions of neo-tropical birds which pass through. Memorial Park is an important "rest-stop" on these migrating flyways. For more

information visit www.houstonarboretum.org or call 713-681-8433.

GHORBA (Greater Houston Off Road Biking Association)

September 22, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Mountainbike Trail Work Day.

Come help maintain the most beautiful and popular natural trails in Houston. These trails are used by runners, walkers, hikers, naturalists, bird

watchers, and cyclists. Free food and beverages for all volunteers. Great camaraderie and fun. Come meet other users of this beautiful park.

Please bring gloves, safety or sunglasses, a full camelback or water bottle, and your favorite tools if you have them. Also, long pants and

shirtsleeves are recommended to fend off poison ivy. Mosquitoes are still out too - we've got extra strength DEET if you don't. Meet at: North

Picnic Lane off of Memorial Drive Parking Lot between soccer and baseball field. Bring your energy and enthusiasm.Go to Volunteer Match for

more details.

A Word from a Memorial Park Neighbor
If you have an interesting story or memory of Memorial Park, please e-mail us at styler@memorialparkconservancy.org.

Thank you!

We would like to thank our generous donors for supporting our efforts in community building and preserving Houston's premier green space.

$20,000 and above

The Hildebrand Fund

$10,000-19,999

Lawrence Family Foundation

The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation

$5,000-9,999

Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Allen, III

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Costello

Glassell Family Foundation, Inc.

Ms. Meg Goodman and Mr. Mike Bonini

Mr. and Mrs. Russell Hawkins

Mr. James C. Kempner

Mr. and Mrs. Peter A. Larking

Mr. and Mrs. William Gentry Lee, Jr.

Memorial Hermann

Mr. John Poindexter

Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Reckling

Saracen Energy Advisors LP

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Wareing

Drs. Kaye and Richard Westmark

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Y. Wood

$2,500-4,999

Ms. Blaine Adams and Mr. Patrick Falcon

Dr. and Mrs. Edward A. Blackburn, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Harper B. Trammell

Mr. Mike Garver/Garver Real Estate

Mrs. J.W. Hershey

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey D. Hildebrand

Bud Light/Silver Eagle Distributors, L.P.

$1,000-2,499

Ms. and Mrs. Charles Callery

Mr. and Mrs. George S. Craft

Mr. James S. Dougherty

Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Erikson

The Greentree Fund

Jewel B. Crosswell Trust

Mr. Craig Lambert Massey

Dr. and Mrs. Cary Moorhead

Mr. and Mrs. Chris O'Sullivan

Mr. and Mrs. John Paukune

Ms. Debra Tummins

Mr. and Mrs. Butch Abendshein

$1-999

Mr. John T. Cater

Mr. and Mrs. Ben D. Wilcox

Winifred and Carleton Riser

Ms. Phoebe Grace

Mr. Ron Moran

Ms. Antonia Stewart

(These gifts have been received between August 15-September 15, 2007. Our gratitude to those who have contributed since that date.)

What's New in the Park?

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa) is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the family Verbenaceae; between 40-150 species are accepted by

different botanists. They are native to east and southeast Asia (where the majority of the species occur), Australia, southeast North America and

Central America. The temperate species are deciduous, the tropical species evergreen. The leave are simple, opposite, and 5-25 cm long.

The flowers are in clusters, white to pinkish. The fruit is a berry, 2-5 mm diameter and pink to red-purple with a highly distinctive metallic lustre,

are very conspicuous in clusters on the bare branches after the leaves fall. The berries last well into the winter or dry season and are an

important survival food for bird and other animals, though they will not eat them until other sources are depleted. The berries are highly

astringent, and considered unfit for human use.

Park Points

Memorial Park is among the largest urban parks in Texas
55^th largest city park in U.S. (larger than New York’s Central Park)*
Comprises 7% of Houston’s total park land (1,503 of 24,943 acres)
Valued at $1 billion
Approx. 4,000,000 people use Memorial Park annually
Approx. 10,000 runners use the Seymour-Leiberman Exer-Trail daily
Approx. 64,000 rounds of golf played annually
Approx. 42,000 rounds of tennis played annually
Approx. 30 miles of trails
Road bike training loop and mountain bike tails
Fitness center with a 33-meter lap pool
Recreational sports fields including: 4 sand volleyball courts, 3 softball fields, 2 baseball diamonds, 2 rugby/soccer fields and 1 croquet court
Five playgrounds, including the Vale-Asche Foundation Playground
Memorial Park was established as a city park in 1925; its 1,503 acres were deeded at cost to City of Houston in May, 1924, by Mike & Will Hogg, sons of James Stephen Hogg, former governor of Texas (1891-95), native of Rusk, Texas
Golf course established in 1934 for $184K; COH paid $29K and the Texas Relief Commission paid the balance; renovated in 1995 for $5M
Houston Arboretum & Nature Center established in 1967
Seymour Lieberman Exer-Trail established 1978-1981
In 2000, the enlarged Memorial Park Advisory Committee became Memorial Park Conservancy, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit including numerous representative park users and "green" agencies
Houston’s City Council in 2004 approved the 25 Year Master Plan (Wallace, Roberts & Todd), Philadelphia, PA, which includes among many other improvements:
                  -Relocation of Forestry Complex
                  -Re-location of HPD Mounted Patrol Complex
                  -Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge over Memorial Drive
                  -Trail maps and improved user signage
                  -Renovation of Greenhouses
                  -New and enhanced trails; low maintenance surfacing
                  -Canoe/Kayak Launch to replace old archery range on northwest corner of Loop 610 and Woodway

*Trust for Public Land’s 100 Largest City Parks, 2007

Thank you for your support of Memorial Park!