Awesome to see how careful people are to back-in park on Albemarle. Even with snow piles and icy roads, drivers (including contractors, walkers, teachers, playground users, snowball fighters and skiers) are careful take the time to park safely and correctly. Thanks, community!
For more on back-in parking through the seasons, check out:
This house is a gem that lights up Albemarle right now. Hats off to the careful decoration that transformed it to a slowly changing beacon of color, adding joy to everyone’s nighttime walk.
Friends, It’s a time of transition. Many of the beautiful leaves are still with us…for a little while longer. As are the construction vehicles. Field Update The synthetic turf field was fully installed as of early October and supports play of all kinds. This is the only community synthetic turf access in Newton, and it’s exciting to see it getting regular use all weekend and throughout the week, even when rain shuts down other playing spaces. Learn more on the blog post!
Murals The Spark Newton mural selection committee deliberated over fantastic submissions….and chose the perfect artist for the four new murals installed at Gath Pool: Amanda Hill. (Why yes, some of us board members were on the committee.) Check out her natural, sublime, yet everyday art here: https://friendsofalbemarle.org/2025/09/25/soaking-in-the-murals
They have been reduced, but residents have still seen recklessness leading to wrecks. We’ve got to keep Albemarle safe to access! Please be careful about inattentive driving, as was the culprit in this September crash:
How GREAT are these tote bags? Dress up any outfit and pack anything into these sturdy tote bags. Support FOA and show your support for your local green space!
By mid-October, the new synthetic turf at Albemarle was in full swing, being used for field hockey, football, flag football, and selfies. Features a swanky cleat cleaner among other bells and whistles.
This is the fourth —and likely final, for the foreseeable future— synthetic turf installation in Newton. It replaces the most heavily used grass turf in the entire city, which required constant management, chemical treatment and watering. Underneath this installation is a massive climate change mitigation project in the form of a stormwater catch basin. (This process is explained here: https://friendsofalbemarle.wordpress.com/2025/06/16/how-drainage-will-work-at-albemarle)
As a part of this installation, a wetlands fund was granted to support ongoing protection and management for Cheesecake Brook.
In addition, this 2-acre installation is the only community-accessible synthetic turf in the city of Newton. It is on parkland, not school property, and although it will be heavily used by Day middle school teams after school from 2:30-4pm four days a week, and Newton North as their second synthetic turf field from 4-6 on weekdays*, it will be in constant rotation by other athletes for the many other sports that space supports – from cricket leagues to Ultimate frisbee to a beautiful diversity of sports that are too numerous to name.
*Note – Newton South already has two synthetic turf fields, as do most schools in the leagues these schools are competing against. This brings North’s tally to two as well.
It’s especially impressive when dozens of families arrive from other towns, encounter the park for the first time, and seamlessly back-in park at Albemarle.
Here, Day Middle competes in cross-country as parents look on. It’s easy to see that everyone parked correctly – no exceptions. But the wild thing is…also no honking. No backing out into traffic. No high blood pressure. No endangering cyclists and pedestrians.
Friends of Albemarle 