Our September Update

What a beautiful September we've had. It's always rewarding to see the fruits of our labor continue to bloom well into the Fall, while still allowing us to work on new beautification projects in downtown Rochester.

This month's highlights included planting dozens and dozens of mums, as well as continuing to attack litter... bringing our season total to over 1,500 pounds of trash removed from our streets and parks!

But we couldn't have accomplished this without the help of the 41 volunteers who have assisted us this year. Thank you all!

Thank you to volunteers Christine & Michael McMullen and Christian Manfredi

🌻 We're thrilled to also report that the new Midge Thomas Community Garden at the entrance to St. Joseph's Park is thriving. Since the official ribbon-cutting in late August many of the flowers have doubled or tripled in size, and we continue to tend to the garden and fill in gaps with even more perennials.

Perhaps more importantly, park-goers have taken a certain measure of ownership of this space, treating it with a level of respect and care that we hope will radiate throughout the neighborhood.

Some of the mums we planted in September

Another project we're excited about is the transformation of the surface parking lot fronting E. Main Street between Stilson and Chestnut. This month we cleared the weeds (and 2 layers of old weedmat) from the triangular berms at both ends of the lot, added 1,200 pounds of quality soil, and planted 25 hostas that will provide an attractive and low-maintenance foundation for these highly-visible corners.

And that's just the start! We'll be continuing to landscape the entire perimeter of this triangular lot. Our work this Fall is simply preparation for what will be a radical intervention of this stretch of Main St.

We're revitalizing a parking lot along Main St

Advocacy is a cornerstone of our mission, so we're grateful to the City of Rochester for its continued responsiveness. For example, every year we identify locations downtown where trees are missing and share this with the Forestry Division. And every year they confirm and replace these trees.

🌳 There are now only a handful of empty wells downtown. And this number will soon approach zero when the six spots shown below receive new trees next Spring!

THAT is how things should work. Communication, collaboration, and City staff who truly care 🙏🏼

6 locations where we've requested trees

Now an Invitation...

We'd like to personally invite you to attend a special event we're hosting this coming Saturday.

"ROC in the Ruins" at St. Joseph's Park is a FREE community festival featuring food, fun, fall crafts and fantastic music 🎺 🎸

We've partnered with The Local Sound Collaborative and RocGrowth to bring you this unique opportunity to experience one of downtown's true gems, the open-air St. Joseph's Church ruins.

So please be our guest this Saturday the 4th from 3-7pm for some good vibes with some good folks, as we celebrate this landmark venue in the heart of downtown.

Join us this Saturday for our FREE music festival

Well that's it for now. Thank you for reading this far.

And remember, every day is an opportunity to make our city just a little bit better.

- Mike and Tina Gilbert

P.S. Don't forget to come out to St. Joseph's Park this Saturday to ROC in the Ruins!

Happy 99th Birthday Midge! Your garden will carry on your legacy.

Please consider becoming a Downtown ROCstar by supporting our efforts with a tax-deductible gift. Every dollar is invested directly into placemaking projects that enhance our center city.

Our August Update | Our July Update | Our June Update | Our May Update