FOAP Updates
FOAP 2026
—EVENTS—
Second Saturday
Rose Garden Volunteer Days
July 11 and Aug. 8, 2026
8am–10am
Join your fellow volunteers at the rose garden on the second Saturday in July and August to help with weeding, dead-heading and mulching, so we can keep this historic gem in Avondale Park looking its blooming best throughout the summer. Bring your favorite clippers and rakes. Wear long sleeves and sturdy shoes, hat and bug repellant. We’ll provide gloves and water. Experts will be on hand to teach you how to trim roses the right way, so you can do the same at home. Hope to see you there!
Everything we do is made possible by our volunteers and members. If you like what we’re doing to support Avondale Park and our neighborhood, please consider becoming a member of Friends of Avondale Park!
FOAP 2026
—MID-YEAR UPDATE—
Friends of Avondale Park: what a wonderful, productive, event-filled time it’s been this first half of 2026!
Where to start? How about with our fantastic Valentine’s Day tree-planting event, co-hosted by our nonprofit partner Cool Green Trees? On that day more than 40 volunteers, including City Councilor Josh Vasa, planted more than 30 trees all over the park, including oaks, dogwoods, maples, redbuds, pines, sweet bay magnolias and one Southern magnolia (an orphan found by an FOAP member in a neighborhood alley). We’re planning an even more substantial tree-planting project with Cool Green Trees that we hope will happen this coming winter.
We also held another significant “push back the brush” workday with support from the Birmingham Park and Recreation Department. The March event resulted in the removal of masses of unwanted and invasive plants near the entrance to our restored “Red Trail” that meanders up to the Avondale Villa. That same day, Eagle Scout Andy Everett led a team that stabilized a severely eroded spot on the trail AND installed brand new trail signs, manufactured for us by the team at Jefferson County Greenways—another great partner.
Speaking of partnerships, we continue to strengthen our relationships with more nonprofits and corporate supporters, for the benefit of the park and our neighborhood. Thanks to Alabama Audubon, bird-protection window clings were installed on some of the windows at Avondale Library. We hope to add more to the rest of the library windows very soon. We also hosted corporate team-building groups from Ernst & Young and Southern Company, and a group from CBS 42 plans to come later this month. These teams are helping us with multiple beautification and cleanup projects. We’ve also become a member of Magic City Toolbank, a local nonprofit that loans us equipment for volunteer days and other projects at very low cost.
Speaking of beautification, have you been to the Rose Garden lately? The volunteer “rose buds” continue to nurture this incredible, historic treasure that has been completely revitalized over the past couple years. The Rose Garden has hosted multiple gatherings this spring, including a kickoff for the library system’s summer reading program for children, and a luncheon for the mayor’s team and the entire City Hall staff. FOAP volunteers also planted flowers in the amphitheater to beautify it for Birmingham Folk Fest, which drew a record 5,000 people on May 16! Thanks to the city Horticulture team and Collier’s Nursery for providing the blooms.
This month, of course, brings the election of new FOAP leadership for 2026-27. Joining the board for the next three years are Kimberly Hooks (who has served on the board previously) and newcomers Anna Barker, Cary Estes and David Kennell. Continuing to serve are Daniel Neumann, who is in line to serve as the next board president, Axel Barron, Brigette Cannon, Leah Davis, Patrick McGuire, Annette Vazquez and Carla Jean Whitley. Outgoing president Michael Sznajderman also continues to serve as Immediate Past President, a non-voting board member. Leaving the board are Allison Abney, Julie Gilliom, Chris Hooks and Immediate Past President John Forney. You can meet the new board and thank our outgoing leaders at the upcoming FOAP Annual Meeting, slated for Tuesday, June 23 at Cahaba Brewing Company. The festivities kick off at 5 p.m. and will include a brief board meeting to vote in our executive committee for the new term. All are welcome to attend the Annual Meeting, but dues-paying FOAP members get their first beer for free. Not a member yet? It’s the perfect time to join and enjoy that free beverage at Cahaba Brewing, plus – new members can take home a free copy of the History of Avondale coffee table book! Click here to sign up.
Hope to see you on June 23!
FOAP 2025
—END-OF-YEAR UPDATE—
With 2025 coming to a close and 2026 on the horizon, we want to thank all our members and volunteers for a terrific year of events and improvements at Avondale Park.
Here are a few highlights from the second half of 2025:
New roof on the amphitheater support buildings. With support from the city’s Park and Recreation Department and just-retired City Councilor Valerie Abbott, the rotten wood and leaky roofs on the amphitheater support buildings have been replaced. This is especially positive for those who use the buildings during amphitheater performances by Birmingham Children’s Theatre, Opera Birmingham and Birmingham Folk Fest. Special thanks to Charles Brundidge at Park & Rec and FOAP board member Axel Barron who helped facilitate the project.
Improvements to the “red trail.” Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, the park’s historic “red trail” is open and safe for walkers. The trail connects the lower section of the park to the Avondale Villa. Early next year we hope to add directional signs at the trailheads and make improvements at one eroded spot, with support from a local Boy Scout team. If you haven’t been on the trail, winter is the ideal time. With the leaves down, there’s a great view at the top of the trail, looking north across the park and beyond.
Holiday happenings. Thanks to the vision of board member Daniel Neumann, Avondale Park now has a holiday tree! We planted the native eastern red cedar on the south side of the pond and it is decorated for the season. On December 13 we gathered there for our first-ever holiday tree-lighting event, with food and drink and a live performance by music students from Firehouse Community Arts Center. Just before Thanksgiving, we kicked off the season with our annual holiday party at Parkside on Fifth. We had a great turnout with holiday nibbles, fab door prizes from local merchants and an updated Friends of Avondale Park T-shirt for sale. You can buy one here.
Roses, native plants and so much more, thanks to our volunteers. We can’t conclude this update without bestowing extra praise on super volunteers like Claire Parker, who leads the team that keeps our historic rose garden looking so beautiful, and Shannon Carden, the mastermind behind our new native plant gardens, which have drawn more birds and pollinators to the park while reducing harmful erosion and runoff. We hope to add more native plants and more trees to the park in the coming year. Many nonprofit partners, including The Nature Conservancy, Cool Green Trees, Hands-On Birmingham and the Alabama Environmental Council have contributed time, labor and expertise to help make our park more beautiful. Join us in this ongoing effort by becoming a member of Friends of Avondale Park.
FOAP 2025
—MID-YEAR UPDATE—
The first half of 2025 has been a productive time for the Friends of Avondale Park. The year began with successful volunteer days that helped “push back the brush” along the tree-line behind Miss Fancy, where we uncovered a long-buried stone path that leads toward Avondale School. We hope to continue unearthing historic stone paths and other relics of Avondale Park’s past in the coming months.
As winter turned to spring, our volunteers devoted to the Rose Garden weeded and pruned, and the results of have been glorious. Meanwhile, our long-anticipated native plant gardens began taking shape, thanks to support from multiple partners and volunteers from Regions Bank. Volunteers also responded to an emergency callout when the city suddenly decided that hundreds of native plants they were growing for us needed to be moved out of their facilities. In just one day, more than 1,000 plants were placed in the new native plant beds. Those not immediately planted were moved to Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve for safekeeping till the fall. The project also included installing decorative boulders, and erosion-control devices and plants along the south side of the pond. Combined with the new plant beds, this project is already reducing runoff into the pond and is expected over time to help improve the pond’s water quality.
Our annual picnic was rained out in May, but was replaced with a well-attended board meeting and cocktail party at Parkside, where our newly-elected board members were introduced and those rolling off the board were toasted for their service. Thank you to outgoing board members Shannon Carden, Elizabeth Lasseter, Fred Shepherd, and especially John Forney, who served two years as Board President. You can thank John for the new, branded wastebaskets you see around the park. They were his idea and he shepherded the project to approval by the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board. John also led the campaign to address the pond flooding that took place earlier this year—another of his many initiatives during his tenure as president.
We are pleased to have joining the board for the next three years: Axel Barron (a former board member returning to service), Julie Gilliom, Daniel Neumann, and Carla Jean Whitley. Continuing to serve in 2025-26 are Allison Abney, Abra Barnes, Chris Hooks, Patrick McGuire, Brigette Scott, and Annette Vazquez with Michael Sznajderman serving as President this year.
Most important: THANK YOU to all our members! It is your financial and volunteer support that help make Avondale Park and our community better.
FOAP 2024
—A YEAR SPENT IN NATURE—
For Friends of Avondale Park, 2024 has been an active and fruitful year, and we couldn’t have done it without you! As you walk the park today, you can see evidence of FOAP’s dedication at every turn.
The Rose Care Community grew to over 20 regularly active participants and around 65 people who played even a small role—planting, pruning, and mulching—and the roses expressed their gratitude with more color than we have seen in years!
As a neighbor and partner to Birmigham’s best neighborhood library, FOAP replaced the branch’s 5th Avenue sign. And, with the help of a generous grant from Birmingham Botanical Gardens, we planted a gorgeous flower bed, filled with perennials, that will add annual color to what is now a beautiful and welcoming entrance.
Volunteer groups, both the Second Saturday faithfuls and corporate groups eager to give back, removed trash from the four blocks along 41st Street that shine a light on Avondale Park—we are so thankful for this spirit of community.
Our historic amphitheater played host to movies, music, and so much more. In May, FOAP helped sponsor the 3rd Annual Birmingham Folk Fest, which saw a full day of live bands performing on
4 stages, local vendors set up around the pond, and over 2500 people enjoying
the happy day.
At the annual May picnic and November holiday social, members gathered together as neighbors, appreciating each other and the gifts we each bring to our historic park. Many thanks to those who were able to attend.
Secret volunteers kept our special friends—Miss Fancy, at the park’s main entrance, and Little Miss Fancy on the park’s west side—dressed up and surrounded by healthy plants and decor. It is always a joy to discover her fashionable attire as the seasons go by.
We hope you will help us continue our good works and make it another great year for Friends of Avondale Park by joining us for the first time, or renewing your membership today.