Friends of The Marshfield Dog Park
BEHIND THE LINE -BY ALYSSA QUACKENBUSH
Over the past 3 years, a small team of people has been working to establish a public dog park right here in Marshfield. On Monday, June 22nd a YES VOTE at Town Hall finally came from the people of Marshfield.
Spearheaded by Steve Darcy, the dog park initiative has been a long road of unexpected challenges and small victories. The dog park is something that the community really has seemed to want and has been excited about. The group has held fundraisers and a variety of other events to raise awareness and funds for the initiative. Through these events, it's been made clear that dogs bring people together. People are excited about the thought of a dog park here in town and show up for these events.
Erin Fitzpatrick saw what Steve was doing with the dog park and wanted to get involved. She reached out after seeing the first fundraiser and has been working on this initiative ever since. Erin owns a pet care business called Pretty Paws Pet Care and although she ironically doesn't own a dog herself, she's just as passionate about this project.
Coming from a marketing background, Erin has been taking care of marketing collateral for all of the silent auctions, raffles, and decorating spaces for fundraisers, making everything look inviting and professional. The creativity of her mini-projects is always within an impressively reasonable budget; as Erin puts it, DIYs and out-of-the-box thinking for these events allows for "a champagne taste on a beer budget." This way, they have been able to avoid spending the money that has been donated for the park itself on these events.
The friends of the Marshfield dog park have raised an impressive $25,000 for the park. This will cover the building costs as well as maintenance throughout the year. $10,000 of the $25,000 was donated from State Representative, Patrick Kearney’s 2019 state budget, and the additional $15,000 has been locally-sourced, from small businesses, and through the fundraisers and parties that have been hosted by the Friends of the Marshfield Dog Park.
Erin and Steve both mention how overwhelmingly helpful and supportive the community has been throughout this process. Even at events that are not fundraisers, the team wants to do what they can to give back, and people gladly show up. At one of the parties they were hosting, they asked for no donations but instead requested guests bring a canned good to donate to the Marshfield Food Pantry, which resulted in an incredibly generous collective donation.
The Marshfield community always comes together when there's something to be excited about--the dog park is a perfect example of one of these times. So many local businesses have done what they can to help out, and even if they’re a new business who can't necessarily afford to donate money, they have been happy to help by putting up flyers, showing up at fundraisers, etc.
The new location which will be on Commerce Way up behind Roche Brothers and the Boys & Girls Club is 3 years in the making Steve, Erin, and their team have seen it all; from location issues to figuring out financing through a non-profit, it's been what Steve described as a "bumpy road," but all of the hard work has been worth it at the end. The ultimate reward will be a well-maintained park where dogs can play off-leash and dog owners can continue to engage in the community that’s blossomed through this initiative.
