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Friends of Crystal Lake Chronology

The Friends of Crystal Lake is an organization of Newton citizens which became informally active in the mid 90s working towards the 2000 restoration of Levingston Cove. Louise Levingston, for whom the cove was dedicated in 1982, was one of the original members. The Friends became formally organized as a 5013c in 2009.

2009

  • April 18 — Paul’s Park Clean-up

  • June 4 — Alderman Sub-Committee Meeting

  • June 7 — Meeting with Newton Police regarding enforcement of regulations

  • June 28 — Pruning in Levingston Cove

  • June, 30 — Website goes live

  • July 20 — Filing for non profit status

2010

  • Research on Lake rules and regulations in collaboration with Newton Parks and Recreation leading to signage.

  • March 12 - Meeting with Mayor Warren regarding Crystal Lake Issues

2011

  • March 12 — Community Meeting and presentation of concept plan for Levingston Cove restoration

  • April 27 — Cronin Cove subcommittee meeting and presentation of rough draft concept plan for Cronin Cove restoration

  • May 15 — NewtonServes clean-up of Levingston Cove

2012

  • April 29 — NewtonServes clean-up of Levingston and Cronin Coves

  • Early summer — successfully advocated for resuming a task force to address issues at Levingston Cove

  • August 7 — Representatives begin attending Crystal Lake Working Group

2013 - 2015

  • Representatives to Crystal Lake Working Group

2016

  • Successfully advocated for crosswalks at Levingston Cove and nearly by intersections

  • Representatives to Crystal Lake Working Group

2017

  • September 24 — Neighborhood meeting with Mayoral candidates, Scott Lennon and Dana Hanson, representative for Ruthanne Fuller

  • April 24 — Councilor Greg Schwartz meeting regarding Crystal Lake issues

  • Representatives to Crystal Lake Working Group

2018—2021

  • As representatives to the Crystal Lake Working Group we advocated for conservation measures, minimal hardscape and retaining naturalistic features for Levingston Cove restoration. We also organized meetings with Parks, Recreation & Culture, attended community sponsored meetings with Parks, Recreation & Culture, attended and presented at City commission hearings (e.g. Parks Commission, Conservation Commission, Community Preservation Commission). To ensure that conservation be prioritized, we successfully appealed for DEP review of the final plans for the Cove restoration project (fall, 2021). This resulted in some minor modifications to the final plan. More details of our experience working on Levingston Cove restorations may be found here.

2022

  • Successfully advocated for removal of deteriorating sand box structures and unattractive benches restoring to natural beach at the bathhouse

  • Successfully advocated for open gates to bathhouse beach and shore area in off seasons

2023

  • Partnered with Parks, Recreation & Culture to sponsor a portable bathroom at the Bathhouse to be used when the building is closed.

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