Van Neste Square, 11/27/21 3:18pm
Plopped down in the middle of downtown Ridgewood lies Van Neste Square, a frequent stop for visitors and residents alike. When I was little, I would frequent this park for hide and seek games with my parents or friends. In the summer, we’d get our chairs and watch movies in the park with friends. Now, I eat my lunch on one of the benches during my breaks at a boutique just along Ridgewood Ave. The real centerpiece of the park lies a very large Norway Spruce (seen on the right). For the holidays, they adorn this tree with lights and it stays lit until the end of December. On the outskirts of the park, I observed a Japanese Cherry, American Holly, several mature American Beeches and an Eastern Red Oak. Some of these trees are new and very young, while others have stood for decades and have grown very tall. On the left side of the picture, there are 7 Eastern Redcedars planted adjacent to one another. I always used to regard them as the park’s “guardsmen”…they were also a perfect hiding spot for hide and seek.
The technical name for the park is “Van Neste Memorial Park” as it was meant to pay respect to veterans in the area. There is also a memorial (shown on the left) that lies on the outer entrance to the park. The park is carved by this circular brick pathway, many of which have names of veterans who reside/resided in the area. Despite the parks small size, it certainly is one of the most vibrant aspects of the Village of Ridgewood, and also one of my favorite places to sit and chat with friends or be by myself for a bit.
In comparison to the forest behind Trinity Campus at UVM, Van Neste Park’s is much less biodiverse. Walking into the Trinity forest, you are shaded entirely by tree cover, whereas walking in Van Neste Park, you have almost full clearing on all four sides. I also think the spiritual experience of the two differ, especially because the trinity forest can actually be counted as place with many thriving ecosystems and over a hundred different species. Of my observations at Van Neste Park, I counted only 6 different kinds of tree species. If I were to count all the tree species living in the spot behind trinity, I’d be there all day. Overall, I usually go to the spot behind if I need to unwind from all the hustle and bustle of campus, whereas Van Neste Park is used to catch up with friends or family as it lies smack in the middle of town.
The noises of the two places also differ. In my time at Van Neste park, I spotted several children running around or adults catching up with a cup of Coffee from Ridgewood Coffee Company. It was not silent. In Trinity forest, it is practically silent besides the sound of wind hitting the tree leaves. Van Neste Park clearly operates as a place designed for easy access to residents and a place to sit in town. Trinity Forest, however, was likely the land not used for the dorms or living spaces at UVM. It has been largely untouched except for a small trail and acts as a place for plants, animals, and their ecosystems rather than humans.