News on the Parkways

2023-05-16

Meet our new Youth Director, Hitha Varganti.

The Friends adopted a new set of bylaws, the end of 2022 and included three voting positions for Youth Directors. The young people must attend Folsom high schools and have a desire for advocacy and education on trails and trees, and promoting the mission of the Friends. Hitha will be our first Youth Director, voted in unanimously by the Board on May 11. Hitha is a junior at Folsom high school and has built quite a résumé for herself. When not studying in her AP Computer Science, Calculus, Language and Composition, and Digital Art Classes, she is a weekly volunteer at Mercy Hospital, serves as President of the SkillsUSA club at FHS, enjoys painting and classical Indian dance. She worked as a youth leader last summer for Folsom Parks and Rec (returning again this summer) and, of course loves being out on Folsom trails. The Friends are excited to bring a youth perspective to our Board. We are currently seeking two other young people for the 2023/2024 year. Welcome Hitha (click below to see her photo)
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2023-05-12

May Meeting Followup News

Folsom City Council member Anna Rohrbough and Parks & Recs Commissioner Samantha Davidson honored us by attending last night's monthly meeting. (See photo above and on Star Pics page.) And, newly appointed Youth Director Hitha Varganti pauses preparing for final exams to attend our May 2023 monthly meeting. Welcome to the Board, Hitha! (See photo on Star Pics page.)
2023-04-14

How we are "Showing Up"

From FoFP President Robert Goss: "Last month I wrote about "showing up" and that those who do have a front seat in the decisionmaking process. In just the first few months of 2023, the Friends of Folsom Parkways have already "shown up" in several important places. Here are a few: • A Saturday morning clean-up of the Natoma Ground Sluice Diggings • Advocacy for trail safety on the American River Parkway • Advocacy for a Class I trail connection to Folsom Ranch along Old Placerville Road • Participation in the Folsom Blvd Overcrossing Concepts, city-sponsored focus group • Preparation for the upcoming Trails Day event (more info coming soon)" Read the complete article in April's Newsletter:
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2023-03-11

A Very Successful Cleanup of Diggings Site

A hardy group of members of the Friends of the Folsom Parkways dodged the rain and had a great trash cleanup project on Saturday, March 11, at the Chinese diggings site. Our group included FOFP member, Councilmember Sarah Aquino. The group found a number of abandoned homeless camps and removed over 30 bags of trash, pallets, old tents and rubbish in the morning’s work. It was wonderful to be in this special place and dust her off a bit, while we imagined what this location once was, and what a fabulous cultural interpretive site it could be for our city. Take a look at the event photos in the Gallery!
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2023-03-07

President Goss stresses "Showing Up"

The Friends of Folsom Parkways exists to "show up."...Showing up doesn't mean you always get your way. But it does mean that your concerns and priorities get heard. ...We urge you to show up too...at community workshops...at commission meetings...at city council meetings. Voice your interests and concerns...always respectfully, and with facts and reason, not conjecture and hyperbole. We'll do the same on the community's behalf so that our amazing parkway system expands for our collective enjoyment, and to preserve nature in our city for decades to come. See the March 2023 Newsletter for the complete article.
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