Letter: Thanks for Egleston engagement

Egleston Square Main Street (ESMS) would like to thank everyone who shared their unique talents, resources, energy and enthusiasm to make Egleston Square shine this past month!

First, thank you to all who made our Hot Jazz Cool Neighborhood fund-raiser such a success. For the fifth year in a row, we packed the venue, Doyle’s Café, with great people, music and energy and exceeded our fund-raising goals. The full list of supporters is too long to list here, but we would like to recognize our district sponsors, Boston Main Streets and John Hancock, and our major event sponsors, the Boston Neighborhood Network, J&M Brown Company and the JPNDC. Of course, the support of Mayor Thomas Menino is critical to our success and we thank his staff for attending the event. Thank you to the Cornell Coley Afro-Latin Jazz trio and our guest MC Skippy White.  We also thank Councilor Tito Jackson for wowing us all with his live auctioneer skills. Thank you also to Jerry and all of the incredible staff of Doyle’s for hosting us with generosity and spirit.

The money we raised on April 25 will sustain our efforts to build an attractive, family-friendly business district that meets the needs of the surrounding neighborhood and provides economic opportunities. As part of this work, an incredible group of volunteers joined us to make Egleston Square shine on April 28 as part of the citywide Boston Shines cleanup day. Thank you to ESAC and all the schools, organizations and residents who volunteered that day.

And finally, thank you to all who used your creativity to celebrate the spirit of our neighborhood in the Egleston Square Wake Up the Earth Parade on May 5. Spectators were dazzled with the sounds of drummers, stiltwalkers, dragons, dancers and much, much more. Thank you to all the schools, organizations and residents who participated and a special thank you to Ife Franklin, George Anastos, Discover Roxbury, the Franklin Park Coalition, the YMCA, Spontaneous Celebrations, District E-13 police, Richard Heath, Rep. Liz Malia, the Egleston Square merchants and so many others who made this possible. Seeing this incredible parade of energy and hope was truly beautiful and we are so fortunate to be part of this wonderful community.

We look forward to seeing you in the Square!

Betsy Cowan

Executive Director, Egleston Square Main Street

Jamaica Plain

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