A sunny, chilly morning greeted residents who turned out for Saturday's Boston Shines city-wide park and neighborhood fall clean-up. Locally, volunteers toiled in community gardens, historic squares and pocket parks around the neighborhood to clear fall debris and prepare for spring. The Boston Parks and Recreation Department (BPRD) dropped off trash bags, rakes, shovels, flower bulbs and other supplies on Saturday morning and re turned to haul away trash and equipment at 1:00 PM.

While the spring and fall Boston Shines dates help to mobilize volunteers across the city, Jacquelyn Goddard, Director of External Affairs and Communications at BPRD explained that the Boston Shines program is not confined to those two days, but is a year-round initiative. "Some groups went crazy and were very proactive with Boston Shines. At John Harvard Mall in Charlestown, the Friends group rented a power washer about two months ago to get rid of moss on masonry benches and brickwork. At Allandale Woods in West Roxbury, volunteers built a bridge." Overall, BPRD oversees 286 properties and 2,200 acres throughout the city, including everything from Allandale Woods, a large Urban Wilds site between Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury, to the South End's tiny oasis, Childe Hassam Park.

Although attendance was sparse at Worcester Square, Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association President George Stergios felt the day was productive overall. "Boston Shines came a little later than usual this year, and I think many of our more active members are concentrating on preparations for the December 8th Tree Lighting, selling raffle tickets, contacting sponsors, preparing decorations, and wrapping gifts for the kids. That said, four people showed up and we managed to get most of Worcester Square Park raked and tidied, so it was not a loss."

At Blackstone and Franklin Squares, more than a dozen residents pitched in to clear away trash and leaves and to plant bulbs for the spring. Courtney Trautman, President of the Friends of Blackstone and Franklin Squares, commented, "It's fun to get outside with our neighbors to plant flowers, sweep, rake and pick up trash to make our neighborhood more beautiful. We're having our Tree and Wreath Sale fundraiser on Saturday, December 7 and the Squares are looking really good for that fun event. While we hoped to have a larger group, we had about 15 sturdy volunteers who bagged dozens of bags of leaves and planted 500 daffodil bulbs. We can't wait to see the flowers come up in the spring!"