Landscaping Plans Presented at FFF Annual Meeting, October 28
Posted: December 2, 2021.
More than 30 people attended the 2021 Annual Membership Meeting of the Friends of Francis Field in person this year. After meeting by Zoom in 2020 because of the Covid-19 health emergency, this was an excellent turn-out.
The featured presentation this year was a preview of the approved rear-field landscaping plans and the announcement that a professional landscaping contractor had been selected by the FFF Board of Directors. Work began on that project a week later. (See Fall Season Planting article.)
FFF treasurer Laura Belt (shown in the photo at left), was elected to another three-year term on the FFF Board of Directors by the membership. She was the only one of the five directors whose term was expiring, and the vote was unanimous.
In her treasurer's report, Laura stated that the organization was in solid financial shape, and was up-to-date in all filings required by the District and federal governments.
Most of the funds raised since 2018 for field improvements will be used on park areas of the field during 2022. Having spent previously-raised funds on playing field improvements in 2017-2018, FFF is asking the District government, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, and the public schools to assure that the maintenance contractors hired by the District are delivering the contracted work on the playing field area before FFF allocates further funds there. (See Maintenance article further below, and 2018 background article on playing field maintenance and permitting
Developments on improving and naming a small section of Francis Field as "Rebecca Coder Park" were also announced. A hearing on the required legislation took place in the District Council on November 3. Those developments are reported in a separate article further below.
This year's annual meeting was again held in the comfortable Lobby Lounge of 2501 M, where the last two in-person annual meetings were held. The 2020 meeting was held by Zoom due to the Covid-19 health emergency.
For this year's in-person meeting, FFF member Beth Monroe again chaired the hospitality committee, as she did in 2019, and again it was nicely done with much-appreciated beverages and hors-d'oeuvres that added much to the conviviality that FFF tries to foster. New member Mengping Chen provided the photographs for this article.