Saline Parks Commission

10/22/2026

The gardening season has come and gone and our Saline residents did not disappoint! The Green Thumb Awards received four nominations for the Beautification-Business/Organization category, 28 nominations for the Beautification-Residential category, and five nominations for the Native/Sustainable Garden category. These nominations all demonstrated the dedication and pride our community has for their properties. The Parks Commission is happy to announce the following winners for the 2026 season:

🏢 Beautification- Business/Organization: The Saline District Library (with a special shout out to the Saline Stone & Thistle Garden Club for their hard work maintaining the garden)

🏡 Beautification- Residential:
Linda Pycik (Whitlock St.)
Piper Tscherniwetz (Lambkins)
Rebecca Godek (Bannock Ct.)

🌿Native/Sustainable Garden:
Bill & Marla Campbell (Nichols Dr.)
Ilse Paniagua & Josh Slaviero (Lambkins)

All winners will be acknowledged and awarded the Green Thumb Award at the upcoming November City Council meeting. We thank everyone who submitted nominations and especially thank the gardeners in our community for their hard work!

10/20/2026

Thank you to our Parks commissioners, volunteers, and DPW staff for meeting early Monday morning to remove and treat a large stand of Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) at Peoples Park. The removal of this highly invasive species will reduce competition for sunlight and nutrients with our native species. If you would like to become more involved with park work days, please fill out the Friends of Saline Parks volunteer form on the Parks Commission webpage.
https://share.google/U85tfK3b04EEBLYMR

10/02/2026

The Parks Commission is seeking volunteers to help remove a stand of Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) at Peoples Park on October 19 at 8am. Closed-toe shoes, loppers, and gloves will be required.

This species of fast-growing tree is highly invasive and rapidly spreads through high seed production and root sprouting. It is also the host plant of the invasive Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), which has recently been found in Michigan.

Wondering if you might have a Tree-of-heaven in your yard? Mature trees resemble Black Walnut trees but have noticeable differences: Tree-of-heaven has smooth bark and a single terminal leaflet, while most black walnut trees have dark, rigid bark and two leaflets at the tip of their leaves. If in doubt, give leaves a smell test. Tree-of-heaven, even young trees, tend to smell like rancid peanut butter.

09/27/2026

Don't forget!
The Parks Commission is still collecting feedback about the ROMP playground at Mill Pond Park. If you haven't already, please complete the survey to help inform decisions about what the future of ROMP should look like.
https://forms.gle/vhQN7XxBTqd5skbx9

Follow our Facebook and Instagram pages () to hear more about this effort and others.

09/16/2026

We would like to thank the Saline Arts and Culture Commission and Girl Scout Troop 40180 for their incredible effort replacing the Little Free Libraries at Brecon, Mill Pond, Tefft, and Risdon Parks. These new libraries were built with durable materials that will last for many years to come.

08/13/2026

We have already received great feedback about the ROMP structure, but we want to make sure everyone's voice is heard. If you haven't already, please fill out our public survey form and tell us your thoughts!
https://forms.gle/ErCuHNP5xuxzX8Fs8

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19BZ1rr28a/

08/06/2026

As part of our Mill Pond Visioning Plan, we want to hear from you!
If you are a user of the ROMP playground or have the potential to be, the Parks Commission would like to hear your thoughts on what aspects of the structure you like or would llike improved. Results from this survey will help the Commssion as it prepares recommendations to the City for the future of the structure.

Please provide your feedback here: https://forms.gle/UeojxawpLVRsUTGw5

07/29/2026

Please join us at Mill Pond Park on August 8th at 10:30am for a ribbon cutting event to celebrate the new Saline River Valley Trail.
Bring your self-powered bikes, strollers, or scooters for a parade around the trail loop!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D3pZ1JKNK/

We are giving our new Saline River Valley Trail the grand opening it deserves next weekend with a ribbon cutting and parade!

So bring your (self-powered) bike, scooter, roller blades, strollers, legs and wheelchairs to Mill Pond Park on Saturday, August 8 at 10:30 a.m. to join us in officially opening the trail!

07/07/2026

Last night a group of young park stewards came together at Wilderness Park to clean up the trails after the big storm that rolled through last weekend. In attendance was both Cubscout pack 3464, led by Jeff Gamble, and Boy Scout Troop 446, led by Jeff Gamble and Kranthi Bandaru. The troops moved branches and debris off the trails to make them passable for park visitors. On behalf of the Saline Parks Commission and the City of Saline, we want to thank the troop leaders, scouts and their families for their continued efforts in keeping our local parks safe and enjoyable for all!

07/06/2026

New photo monitoring tool to track seasonal changes at Mill Pond Park!

If you’ve recently visited Mill Pond Park to explore the new Saline River Valley Trail, you may have noticed an unassuming wooden post by the bench just south of the dog park. This post is a Chronolog photo station that was purchased by the Parks Commission with funding provided by the Saline CARES grant. The platform features a rigid bracket designed to hold cellphones and allows park visitors to capture photos of a fixed location over time. Chronolog offers an opportunity for park visitors to participate in citizen science by capturing photos over time to monitor changes in water levels, wildlife, and seasonal vegetation. The Chronolog station at Mill Pond Park is set up to capture a view of the shoreline facing North.

How it works: After taking a photo using the mount, the user then uploads their photo using the QR code provided on the photo station. It is then logged as part of a series of photos taken by other photographers and integrated into a timelapse video of the spot. This video can be viewed on our public Chronolog webpage https://chronolog.io/site/SPC101. A link will also be available on the Mill Pond Park webpage.