Special to the Gazette
The Emerald Necklace Conservancy announces that upcoming Party in the Park, the city’s beloved annual luncheon to raise awareness and funds for the Emerald Necklace parks, will take place on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at Pinebank Field in Jamaica Pond Park. All proceeds from the fundraiser support the 1,100-acre park system that serves as a backyard for residents and a destination for more than one million park users each year. The Conservancy stewards the Emerald Necklace through advocacy, maintenance and restoration, education, access improvements, public programs and the promotion of park stewardship through youth education and volunteer programs.
Party in the Park will feature the presentation of the Justine M. Liff Spirit Award to Vivien Li, whose work is legendary. For more than two decades, Vivien Li led The Boston Harbor Association, where her advocacy resulted in enhanced Boston Harbor beaches and what is now a 43-mile HarborWalk public access system along Boston’s six waterfront neighborhoods. As a member of the Spectacle Island Park Advisory Committee, Vivien was a vocal proponent for its transformation from a landfill to a much-used island park, and as a long-time member of the Boston Conservation Commission, Vivien actively worked to protect wetlands, water supplies, flood control, and lands containing fish and shellfish, while promoting public access along the city’s waterfront. Named in honor of the late Boston Parks Commissioner Justine Mee Liff, who served from 1996 until her untimely passing in 2002, Emerald Necklace Conservancy continues Liff’s legacy of bringing people together to support and champion these vital urban green spaces.
“We are very excited to be bringing Party in the Park back to Pinebank Field and looking forward to working together on this signature event. We welcome all public park supporters to help raise funds for the vital work the Emerald Necklace Conservancy does to maintain our largest park system in Boston,” shared Caroline Balz, Emily Derr and Jennifer Kinsman, Co-Chairs of the 2025 Party in the Park.
“Party in the Park is our signature fundraising event which funds essential tree care and capital projects in 1,100 acres of parks,” noted Karen Mauney-Brodek, President of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. “It also supports our education programs, free public programming, resources for park users, advocacy efforts and special initiatives. We are extremely proud of the work the Conservancy has done for over 25 years to steward and improve the Emerald Necklace, connecting all Bostonians and visitors alike over a dozen neighborhoods stretching from Dorchester to the Back Bay.”
Founded in 2003, Party in the Park attracts the area’s most generous greenspace supporters and civic leaders for a stylish tented luncheon in the Emerald Necklace. Guests don their finest millinery at this “must-attend” fundraiser to herald the coming of spring to Boston. For the upcoming fundraiser, table sponsorships and purchase of individual tickets are now available. For more information about Party in the Park, please visit www.emeraldnecklace.org/party-in-the-park.
The Emerald Necklace Conservancy is a community-supported non-profit founded in 1998 to steward and champion the Emerald Necklace, Boston’s largest park system of seven distinct parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to connect over a dozen neighborhoods with 1,100 acres of meadows, woodlands, waterways, paths and parkways. Working with civic and neighborhood partners, the Conservancy strengthens parks, people and policy by advocating for the Emerald Necklace and advancing access, maintenance and restoration, park stewardship and education through volunteer and youth programs and inclusive public programming. The parks serve as a healing respite from the city, a valuable commuting connector and a community convener for more than one million residents and tourists each year. www.emeraldnecklace.org