Closing out the Volunteer Season By Shannah Cumberbatch Our volunteers are our most valuable team players. From helping out in the ponds to greeting visitors, leading bird walks, and helping to set up for special events, our volunteers do it all! They are the reason we have such a robust program, one where folks opt...
From Friend to Photographer to Football Coach! Eastland Gardens is home to the nation’s only national park devoted to aquatic plant life AND the DMV’s only female football coach. By Zerline Hughes Spruill The return of autumn means we can enjoy the lotus flower seed pod heads at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, pumpkin spice everything everywhere,...
By Shannah Cumberbatch One of these things is not like the other! Have you ever looked at two things daily for years thinking they were the same, and suddenly realized one day that they were completely different? Well, that’s exactly what happened when biologists recently discovered a new water lily species hiding in plain sight...
Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens was thrilled to help welcome Chuck Sams, the director of the National Park Service to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in July! Director Sams and his family came to enjoy the Lotus & Water Lily Festival, including a leisurely stroll through the park to see the blooms and a ranger talk to...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: ZERLINE HUGHES SPRUILL September 7, 2022 (202) 876-2992 / zerline@fokag.org Residents, Tourists Better Directed to Nation’s Only National Park Devoted to Aquatic Plant Life WASHINGTON, DC — Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens,...
A Legacy of Loving Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Reminiscing about Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens’ Ranger Mack, Lotus Leaves and … Chickens? By Zerline Hughes Spruill Shawn and Cornell Battle are childhood sweethearts who were raised in the Kenilworth neighborhood. They each remember ice skating back in the day on Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens’ on frozen ponds (can you...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Zerline Hughes Spruill JUNE 23, 2022 zerline@fokag.org 202.876.2992 New Smithsonian Exhibition Highlighting the Connection Between People and Nature Features Ward 7 National Park and Nonprofit Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and Two Ward 7 Residents Spotlighted in Natural History Museum’s ‘Our Places’ Exhibition WASHINGTON, D.C – The Smithsonian’s National Museum of...
Release Date: June 10, 2022 Contact: Zerline Hughes Spruill; Zerline@fokag.org; 202-876-2992 Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens’ Lotus and Water Lily Festival Returns as a Month-long, In-person Celebration with Live concerts, wellness events and a community 5K walk starting July 9-31 Park hours extended on Saturdays through 8 p.m. for visitors WASHINGTON—Join the National Park Service...
Species Spotlight: Dragonflies & Damselflies Have you seen a skinny flying insect near water and wondered where it was a damselfly or a dragonfly? Ever wondered whether they were the same or different? You’re in luck! We have both at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and after reading this blog, you’ll be a pro at...
By Zerline Hughes Spruill We can’t tell the story of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and Kenilworth Park without talking about our neighbors. There’s stories like Dennis Chestnut’s who recalls having ice cream socials at the park, formerly the Kenilworth Dump, just minutes after trash trucks picked them up from Briggs’ ice cream plant. And then there’s...
