A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT
November 20, 2025
As the year comes to a close, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support. Your generosity throughout the year has helped us continue the work to fulfill our mission, “To further the preservation, revitalization, and viability of Palmer Park - a Detroit park for the good of all.” This year has been one in which we have focused on environmental health of our Old Growth Forest, Witherell Woods, with the 2nd prescribed burn, completion of our Lake Frances Habitat Restoration Project, installation of our kiosks, way finding and educational signage, along with adding new recreation activities and strengthening our partnerships in this community.
With foundation, State of Michigan and private funding, we offered safe recreational activities including youth basketball, biking, tai chi, yoga, chair yoga, exercise training, youth disc golf and added a twice weekly walking group, We Walk Detroit. Our Palmer Park Tennis Academy has continued to grow involving 250 students, providing instruction for the beginner and high performance players. Our new partnership with Detroit PAL brought Tiny Tennis to our courts offering beginner-friendly tennis to children ages 4-6. Our splash pad got a facelift, helping to make the summer heat more bearable thanks to the City of Detroit.
Our Community Garden received some “TLC”, our raised beds were rebuilt and additional beds added to activate our garden to be full of community members invested in food sovereignty and food production. Many volunteers assisted with pruning and harvesting our delicious apples at the orchard. Through the continued partnership with the Eastern Market and foundation funding, we offered fresh produce, baked goods, body products and more at our Palmer Park Community Market. With food trucks, music, workshops, hustle dance classes, story telling with the Detroit Public Library, it was the place to meet up with other residents, shop, eat dinner and enjoy the jazz.
One of our most exciting projects started almost 3 years ago came to a close as the orange fencing came down around Lake Frances. The roughly 3-acre lake was initially created as a recreational and scenic amenity for the park, with a series of small islands. The lake was cleaned, a filtration system sunk, and over 20 thousand new plants along the shoreline and islands were planted, creating a more naturalized, healthy lake for wildlife and park users to enjoy. While the Lake Frances project came to a close, the Habitat Restoration Project continues with the 2nd prescribed burn, maintenance and grooming of our wildflower meadows, continued invasive species removal and the installation of new park kiosks, way finding and educational signage.
Events that are so cherished by the community returned this past year. Memorial Day weekend, we hosted the Palmer Park Art Fair attracting thousands to the park with vendors circling the lake creating a very serene atmosphere. In late June, we held Log Cabin Day, which featured the 102nd USCT/Black Civil War History Group, spinning and weaving demonstrations, square dancers, storytellers, log cabin tours of both floors, bonnet and log cabin crafts and, of course, free ice cream to the first 500 visitors. We hosted Harvest Festival in late September, which provided fun for all with a pumpkin patch for children, horse and pony rides, roasted corn-on-the-cob, apples, cider and donuts, tractor hay rides through the trails, live entertainment on a perfect fall Michigan day.
Who said park clean-ups aren’t fun…As an Adopt-A-Park organization, we are responsible for park clean-ups. Our Earth Day Clean-up was a joyous day for all ages. The Aziza Fairy Door Trash & Treasure Hunt helped to create a love for park stewardship encouraging our youth to take ownership by picking up trash while they explored the forest looking for Aziza Fairy Doors. And with the addition of Art in the Trees, we all enjoyed the art installations and artist creations as we cleaned. For the love of dogs, we once again hosted the Doggie Health and Wellness Fair, offering exams, chips and vaccinations by the Michigan Humane, give-a-ways, and yoga with dogs.
The Palmer Park Log Cabin continues to undergo renovations with the installation of wall sconces and a porch chandelier. A donation of period bedroom furnishings helps visitors envision life back in the 1900’s. With conservation funding, we began the design plans for the landscape project at the log cabin. This plan includes a blue stone front entry patio, walking path, restoration of stone stairs and native plantings making the log cabin a destination for tours, events and leisure activities.
And just when this year couldn’t offer anything else, think again…the relocated historic Michigan State Fair Bandshell opened at Palmer Park with a ribbon-cutting and musical performance that rocked the park. The grand opening combined local community musical artists with the main act by Marcus Elliot, a Sounds From the Park concert sponsored by the Detroit Parks Coalition. With only a few days left in the season, People for Palmer Park partnered with Moondog Cafe Detroit to bring a techno percussion vibe with artist Shigeto.
We are grateful for all the volunteerism that has emerged and continues to support our efforts with a dedicated group of volunteer board members, who give countless hours. Our board committees, including Events, Finance, Log Cabin, Arts & Culture, Marketing, Preservation, Membership, and Recreation, keeps us organizationally focused. The continued support of many community volunteers, helping at clean-ups, events and more is unsurpassed. This collective spirit is what makes Palmer Park so special.
Now we need your membership support to keep up this important transformation of Palmer Park.
Please tap the button below to join our team.
Thank you for your past, present and future support!
Stacy Varner, President
Board of Directors
Stacy Varner, President - Rosalinda Haskins, Vice President - Heidi Reijm, Treasurer - Eric Adams, Secretary
Leslie Andrews, Barbara Barefield, Lyla Cattellier, Norman Clement, Robyn Childers, Sylvia Greene, Rev. Gregory Guice, Abe Gurewitz, Rhonda Hendren, Brice Hunter, Amy Kuras, Rochelle Lento, Megan Owens, Roy Raines, Asher Van Sickle, Nancy Varner
As the year comes to a close, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support. Your generosity throughout the year has helped us continue the work to fulfill our mission, “To further the preservation, revitalization, and viability of Palmer Park - a Detroit park for the good of all.” This year has been one in which we have focused on environmental health of our Old Growth Forest, Witherell Woods, with the 2nd prescribed burn, completion of our Lake Frances Habitat Restoration Project, installation of our kiosks, way finding and educational signage, along with adding new recreation activities and strengthening our partnerships in this community.
With foundation, State of Michigan and private funding, we offered safe recreational activities including youth basketball, biking, tai chi, yoga, chair yoga, exercise training, youth disc golf and added a twice weekly walking group, We Walk Detroit. Our Palmer Park Tennis Academy has continued to grow involving 250 students, providing instruction for the beginner and high performance players. Our new partnership with Detroit PAL brought Tiny Tennis to our courts offering beginner-friendly tennis to children ages 4-6. Our splash pad got a facelift, helping to make the summer heat more bearable thanks to the City of Detroit.
Our Community Garden received some “TLC”, our raised beds were rebuilt and additional beds added to activate our garden to be full of community members invested in food sovereignty and food production. Many volunteers assisted with pruning and harvesting our delicious apples at the orchard. Through the continued partnership with the Eastern Market and foundation funding, we offered fresh produce, baked goods, body products and more at our Palmer Park Community Market. With food trucks, music, workshops, hustle dance classes, story telling with the Detroit Public Library, it was the place to meet up with other residents, shop, eat dinner and enjoy the jazz.
One of our most exciting projects started almost 3 years ago came to a close as the orange fencing came down around Lake Frances. The roughly 3-acre lake was initially created as a recreational and scenic amenity for the park, with a series of small islands. The lake was cleaned, a filtration system sunk, and over 20 thousand new plants along the shoreline and islands were planted, creating a more naturalized, healthy lake for wildlife and park users to enjoy. While the Lake Frances project came to a close, the Habitat Restoration Project continues with the 2nd prescribed burn, maintenance and grooming of our wildflower meadows, continued invasive species removal and the installation of new park kiosks, way finding and educational signage.
Events that are so cherished by the community returned this past year. Memorial Day weekend, we hosted the Palmer Park Art Fair attracting thousands to the park with vendors circling the lake creating a very serene atmosphere. In late June, we held Log Cabin Day, which featured the 102nd USCT/Black Civil War History Group, spinning and weaving demonstrations, square dancers, storytellers, log cabin tours of both floors, bonnet and log cabin crafts and, of course, free ice cream to the first 500 visitors. We hosted Harvest Festival in late September, which provided fun for all with a pumpkin patch for children, horse and pony rides, roasted corn-on-the-cob, apples, cider and donuts, tractor hay rides through the trails, live entertainment on a perfect fall Michigan day.
Who said park clean-ups aren’t fun…As an Adopt-A-Park organization, we are responsible for park clean-ups. Our Earth Day Clean-up was a joyous day for all ages. The Aziza Fairy Door Trash & Treasure Hunt helped to create a love for park stewardship encouraging our youth to take ownership by picking up trash while they explored the forest looking for Aziza Fairy Doors. And with the addition of Art in the Trees, we all enjoyed the art installations and artist creations as we cleaned. For the love of dogs, we once again hosted the Doggie Health and Wellness Fair, offering exams, chips and vaccinations by the Michigan Humane, give-a-ways, and yoga with dogs.
The Palmer Park Log Cabin continues to undergo renovations with the installation of wall sconces and a porch chandelier. A donation of period bedroom furnishings helps visitors envision life back in the 1900’s. With conservation funding, we began the design plans for the landscape project at the log cabin. This plan includes a blue stone front entry patio, walking path, restoration of stone stairs and native plantings making the log cabin a destination for tours, events and leisure activities.
And just when this year couldn’t offer anything else, think again…the relocated historic Michigan State Fair Bandshell opened at Palmer Park with a ribbon-cutting and musical performance that rocked the park. The grand opening combined local community musical artists with the main act by Marcus Elliot, a Sounds From the Park concert sponsored by the Detroit Parks Coalition. With only a few days left in the season, People for Palmer Park partnered with Moondog Cafe Detroit to bring a techno percussion vibe with artist Shigeto.
We are grateful for all the volunteerism that has emerged and continues to support our efforts with a dedicated group of volunteer board members, who give countless hours. Our board committees, including Events, Finance, Log Cabin, Arts & Culture, Marketing, Preservation, Membership, and Recreation, keeps us organizationally focused. The continued support of many community volunteers, helping at clean-ups, events and more is unsurpassed. This collective spirit is what makes Palmer Park so special.
Now we need your membership support to keep up this important transformation of Palmer Park.
Please tap the button below to join our team.
Thank you for your past, present and future support!
Stacy Varner, President
Board of Directors
Stacy Varner, President - Rosalinda Haskins, Vice President - Heidi Reijm, Treasurer - Eric Adams, Secretary
Leslie Andrews, Barbara Barefield, Lyla Cattellier, Norman Clement, Robyn Childers, Sylvia Greene, Rev. Gregory Guice, Abe Gurewitz, Rhonda Hendren, Brice Hunter, Amy Kuras, Rochelle Lento, Megan Owens, Roy Raines, Asher Van Sickle, Nancy Varner
