In This Newsletter:

• Welcome our new Program Manager: Alex Allen IV!
• Buffalo Soldiers & Blues Freedom Festival - Sept. 16
• Honeysuckle Happy Hours to Continue This Fall
• August Events: Plants, Bugs & Birds Prairie Walk, Annual Senior Picnic
• Upcoming Programs & Events: 
  • Buffalo Soldiers & Blues Freedom Festival - Sept. 16
  • Yoga every Sunday at 9:00 am
  • Detroit Aero Modelers Fun Fly - Sept. 17
  • Honeysuckle Happy Hour - Sept. 19 & 27
    
  • FORP Membership Meeting - Sept. 19
    
  • National Lands Day - Sept. 30
  • D-Town Farm Harvest Festival - Sept. 23 & 24
  • Tree & Fish Walk - Oct. 9

Welcome, Alex!

We are excited to welcome our new full-time Program Manager, Alex Allen IV who started on Sept. 7. Mr. Allen has a degree in Music Business Management and Administration, experience in digital marketing and data analysis and has been the Program Director for the Chandler Park Conservancy for the past six months where he organized Make Music Day and other events. He got to know Rouge Park this summer teaching youth how to play LaCrosse through the Pistons Neighbors Program. He is excited about all the possibilities for activating the space in Rouge Park. We look forward to him applying his skills and experience to help develop and attract new programs to Rouge Park throughout the year. Come and meet him at our upcoming membership meeting on Sept. 19 (details below).

Buffalo Soldiers & Blues Freedom Festival - Sept. 16

Don't miss the Buffalo Soldiers and Blues Freedom Festival on Sept. 16, 1- 5pm. next to the Horse Barn at 8886 Lahser Road. We will be highlighting the history of the Buffalo Soldiers with pony rides, museum tours, blues, African drumming, food and lawn games. This event is part of the Detroit Parks Coalition's second annual Freedom and Arts Festival and the City Office of Arts Culture and Entrepreneurship. Register here.

Honeysuckle Happy Hours Continue This Fall

Antonio Cosme led two more Honeysuckle Happy Hours in August  (8/13 & 8/28) to continue removing non-native invasive honeysuckle from the Ma'iingan Wildwood and Scout Hollow Nature Trails. Honeysuckle grows in thick and crowds out all of our native wildflowers and woody plants. Removing them will allow the native plants to thrive again. Join Antonio for the next Honeysuckle Happy Hours on Sept. 19 & 27. Register here 

The Friends of Rouge Park Mission:



To protect, restore, and promote a natural, environmentally healthy, and culturally vibrant Rouge Park that engages the community for the benefit and enjoyment of all.



We can't do it without your support!

Plants, Bugs & Birds Prairie Walk

Our Plants, Bugs & Birds event was this past Saturday, August 12 at Rouge Park in partnership with Detroit Audubon, Friends of Rouge Park and BIPOC Birders of MI. We were lucky enough that the weather held off for the majority of the event and that we had such wonderful leaders and partners that helped educate about local meadow plants and insects. Participants got to see Dogbane Beetle, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, Northern Flatid Planthopper, Northern Paper Wasp and an Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly.

2nd Annual Senior Picnic at Sorensen Recreation Area

The Friends of Rouge Park hosted our second annual Senior Picnic on August 24 in partnership with the Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance (CRCAA). Held at the Sorensen Recreation Area, over 70 seniors were treated to a delicious free lunch from Honey Baked Ham, music by DJ Jewels Baby, cupcakes baked by a local resident, and bingo made possible by our neighborhood police officers (NPOs) who kept things lively while calling out the numbers. Some lucky winners went home with gift cards and Friends of Rouge Park coffee mugs. We’d like to thank the participants, the NPOs, CRCAA and FORP members who assisted with the event and an extra special thank you to FORP Membership Chair Paula Trilety who organized the entire event.

Upcoming Events

Buffalo Soldiers and lues Freedom Festival

Sat. Sept. 16 1-4 pm

Buffalo Soldiers Heritage Association, 8886 Lahser Dr. (map)

Join us for our second annual Freedom Festival. This year we will be honoring the Buffalo Soldiers and celebrate with blues, African drumming, pony rides, food and more. Sponsored by the Detroit Parks Coalition, the Knight Foundation and the Detroit Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship & FORP

Register here



FORP Membership Meeting

Tues. Sept. 19, 6pm

Sorensen Recreation Area Picnic Shelter (map)

Meet our new program manager, Alex Allen IV, and learn about all the work we are doing to improve Rouge Park and how you can get involved! Come at 4pm for our Honeysuckle Happy Hour (see below) and help restore the Ma'iingan Wildwood Trail while enjoying beer or cider on us.

Register here



Honeysuckle Happy Hours

Tues. Sept. 19, 4-6pm (followed by FORP membership meeting) .

Wed. Sept. 27, 4-8pm

Come enjoy a drink on us (beer and hard cider) while helping to restore Rouge Parks nature trails by removing Honeysuckle and other non-native invasive plants.

Register here



Yoga in the Park with Yoganic Flow

Every Sunday at 9 am, through September 24

Brennan Recreation Area Yoga Green (map)

(between the basketball courts and playground)

Don't miss our last two sessions of the year 9/17 and 9/24. 

Learn how to give your body and mind some love.

sponsored by the Detroit Parks Coalition and FORP
​Register here



Detroit Aero Modelers Fun Fly

Sunday, Sept. 17 10am–1pm

Alex Jefferson Model Airplane Field (map)

(Monthly on the third Sunday, until Oct 16, 2023)

Come watch and learn all about model aircraft flying by experienced members of the Detroit Aero Modelers Club.



D-Town Harvest Festival

Sept. 23 & 24. 11am-5pm

D-Town Farm (map)

Activities include: horseback riding by Detroit Equestrian Play Therapy, Ancestral Foodways Learnshops with the Joy Project, Seed Saving Learnshop by zo, Hands on activities at the Watoto Village, Composting with Food Plus, Sovereignty Plenary and more. Featuring a special tribute for baba Malik Yakini, live music by Mollywop!,  archery workshop by Baba Kundaja, african drum & dance by Nano Djapo, and an award ceremony for awardees of the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund.



National Public Lands Day - Prairie Restoration Work Day

Saturday, Sept. 30, 1-4pm

Prairie Pathway - South Trailhead (map)

Help remove invasive woody plants, collected wildflower seeds and clear overgrowth from the Prairie Pathway.

Register here



Fish & Tree Walk - sponsored by FORP

Sun. Oct. 8, 2pm

Ma'iingan Wildwood Trail, Sorensen Recreation Area (map)

Join naturalist Robert Muller and lifelong student of woody plants Don Drife on a guided walk covering the fish and tree species found in Rouge Park while hiking the newly rededicated Ma'iingan Wildwood Trail.
​Register here