The crocus are popping up and the lady in the tree is falling down, this may be her last year in the park. You can see behind fence in the park they took two houses down and are building an 8 unit building. It will have a drive way down the center and 4 units on each side of the property. They have marked the trees that are going to be pulled out too, there are 5 trees. I really hope that they have to plant some more trees to make up for the ones that will be cut. The building will also go up 3 stories and have balconies on the top so people can see downtown or maybe so you can see the plaid pantry on Interstate & Going. Of course what we can not have a park with out graffiti. I think we paint the edge of the tables every year because of graffiti.

Lady in the Tree

At the end of the park there is a HUGE apple tree. The was park started with the lady in the tree. One summer my husband went to volunteer at the Oregon Country Fair to help get it ready. There was this wonderful sculpture that had toppled over, the top was a woman's torso, the bottom was her skirt. The fair was going to burn the piece since it was not possible to repair it, the artist was who created the piece was Nicodemus Macdonald. My husband convinced Nicodemus to give the piece to him so he could install the sculpture in the apple tree. This was the the first piece of art in the park, it was installed in the summer of 2007. This photo is from April 2013. The lady has lived in the tree watching over the park for the last 5 years, people come to visit her daily. We have watched her decay over the years, but still hanging on and giving the tree a purpose. The apple tree is very old and during the summer some of the branched are so full of fruit that they break off. Officials often suggest that the tree be cut down because there is always the chance of a branch breaking off and hitting someone. I think if you are afraid of branches falling on you shouldn't sit under a tree. 

GIANT CARROT

In May of 2011 a giant carrot appeared in the park needless to say the kids LOVED it. It was fun to watch folks of all ages scream "Giant Carrot" and run directly to the carrot. Sadly enough the carrot could not withstand the attention and was becoming distressed, kids poked at it causing some of the layers to peel off, graffiti appeared and one night someone tried to roll the carrot and it came apart. It then was apparent that the carrot could not live a peaceful existence in the park. It was relocated to a simpler life and now lives on top of the Cherry Sprout a lovely neighborhood grocery store very close to the park. It's the only carrot you can see from space. 

In June of 2012 the Ginger Bike Ride stopped by to pay homage to the giant carrot, the Cherry Sprout provided the group with 200 carrots.