Seeking individuals with specific skills

We are seeking volunteers with specific skills to join the organization. Please visit our key roles page for more details and email us at info@beacondogpark.org if you or anyone you know is interested – this is a unique opportunity to get involved with the community, build something from the ground-up and contribute to the long terms success of a great project!

End of year update

Hello supporters! It’s been a very busy 2010 and a lot of progress has been made on all fronts and our dog park is closer than ever to becoming a reality.

  • A 14 page Detailed Project Plan was submitted to the city in late October.
  • The City Council will be placing the dog park proposal on its workshop agenda for January 2011.
  • A partnership agreement has been entered into with the Community Foundation of Dutchess County (via The Beacon Community Fund) to help make collecting donations easier and tax deductible. We look forward to working with The Beacon Community Fund more closely this coming year.
  • We have migrated our email over to MailChimp which will improve our communication and mailing list management – this newsletter is made possible through their fantastic service. Additionally, everyone who subscribes will now received an automated response immediately.
  • We have just launched our FaceBook and Twitter pages. Please friend/follow us and help spread the word. (see the links left side).
  • Our website continues to be improved and new content added –www.beacondogpark.org

We look forward to the City Council’s approval so we can begin the next phase and the exciting work of park construction!

Thanks to everyone who has shown support, volunteered and made contributions.

We look forward to working more closely in the forth coming year.

Happy New year

/jeff mchugh
Friends of Beacon Dog Park 
www.beacondogpark.org

Partnership agreement with The Beacon Community Fund

The Community Fund of Dutchess County (through support from The Beacon Community Fund), has generously offered to help support the development of our park through a partnership.

Today, the agreement was signed and we are now able to take tax deductible donations. This will help in raising the funds needed for the parks construction.

Going forward, we will be working closely with The Beacon Community Fund on other ideas that will help fund the park long term.

Thank you to both Sara Pasti and Nevill Smythe for their assistance with putting this together.

Proposal Submitted to Beacon City Council

On Tuesday Sept 7th, 2010 at the regular City Council meeting, Jeff McHugh submitted the Friends of the Beacon Dog Park proposal. This proposal was developed over the last few months and was based on discussions & feedback with various members of the Beacon City Council, our committee heads, and area dog park representatives in the surrounding towns and counties.A PDF version has been posted.

The proposal makes the following key points:

  • Friends of the Beacon Dog Park will be 100% member/volunteer supported. It does not ask the city in to incur any cost for development and/or ongoing maintenance. No cost to tax payers!
  • A dog park is a very valuable recreational service to city residents – similar to basketball courts, soccer fields and playgrounds.
  • The dog park will draw from Beacon’s large community of artisans to help shape the design aesthetics making it a “one of a kind” attraction (e.g. landscape, sculpture etc.).
  • The dog park will bring commerce to Beacon’s shops, restaurants and cafes both from both local residents as well as people from neighboring towns.
  • The recommended location for this dog park is within Beacon Memorial Park. Based on feedback and data collected over the past several months, this location was selected due to the many factors that make a dog park a success: proper drainage, safety, exposure to sun/shade, ease of access and relationships to other recreational amenities.