2024 Olmsted Network Conference: Newburgh, NY, Community Conversation

During the lunch hour, we’ll hear about current park initiatives and challenges, including maintenance, water quality, tree care, signage and safety. Conference participants will be invited to take part in a community conversation about Downing Park’s current opportunities and challenges.

Karen Eberle-McCarthy
Currently the President of the Downing Park Conservancy, Karen EberleMcCarthy has worked on the Downing Park gardens for 20 years. She is a proud Master Gardener and member of The Garden Club of Orange & Dutchess Counties. Until her retirement, she was a professor of Spanish Language and Literatures at Mt. St. Mary College in Newburgh. She now
is a volunteer, teaching English as a new language at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center.

Mary McTamaney
Mary McTamaney has been Newburgh City Historian since 2003. She is retired from a 38-year career as a professional librarian and library manager in academic and public library settings. She was Director of the Curtin Library at Newburgh’s Mt. St. Mary College for nine of those years. McTamaney serves as the Secretary of the Board of Managers of the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands.

Kathy Lawrence
Kathy Lawrence is the founder of the Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy.
An entrepreneur at heart, she has founded several action-oriented, nonprofit advocacy organizations. She is most proud of her work running the Environmental Justice Fellowship program that creates training and opportunities for young adults in Newburgh. Lawrence also consults with the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at George Washington University, co-founded School Food FOCUS and founded Just Food in New York City.

Additional comments by Olmsted Network President & CEO Anne "Dede" Neal Petri.