“Playing with Friends” by Ainyae Holmes
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“Shofuso” by Christina Arlt
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Save the Date!
Save the date for our LOVE Your Park Fall Edition park cleanup on November 17th. More information will be posted soon. In the meantime, please check out our other upcoming events throughout the Philadelphia area.
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William Penn Peace Treaty Park
A brief video paying tribute to the rich history of Penn Treaty park and celebrating people’s positive use of the park today!
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I Love Penn Treaty Park
Historic Penn Treaty Park is the only park in Philadelphia which is located on the beautiful Delaware River. It is the hidden jewel of the Riverwards!
It was founded in 1682, when William Penn and Chief Tamanend entered into a treaty by handshake, establishing the Commonwealth of PA, underneath the Great Elm tree. The great-great grandchild of the original elm still stands proudly in the park commerating this historic event.
The Park serves our community with lots of activities for children and adults throughout the year. Especially popular events with the children are our annual Easter Egg Hunt, the Clothesline Art exhibit, and the Pumpkin Patch. In the Summer movie nights are well attended, and on our Fantastic Friday’s, local bands play. In December we enjoy candy canes and hot chocolate, while singing Christmas Carols. There are events to enjoy throughout the entire year!
Historic Penn Treaty Park is much beloved by the community, and the work I do with the Park enriches my life!
Submitted by,
Barbara Morehead,
Founder and Vice President of
Historic Penn Treaty Park
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LOVE Your Park Week is Coming!
We have lots of exciting news! Spring is coming and we are getting ready.
LOVE Your Park week is May 11 – 18th, 2013! We will once again enjoy a week of fun activities that celebrate our fantastic parks and the folks who love them. Want to get involved? Volunteer for the kickoff service day on May 11th to spruce up your local park. Check the calendar for a list of events happening all over the city.
In other news, we now have a dedicated Love Your Park Facebook page! Please take a moment and Like our page. This is a forum for park users and community members to interact with each other, advertise events in your park, and generally keep up on park happenings in Philadelphia.
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Love Your Park Week is here!
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Dickinson Square Park Haiku
Oh luscious green trees
How in the Springtime do you
Kill me with pollen.
What are those people
Doing over on that bench?
“Get a motel room!”
What did I slip on?
And what is that awful smell?
Damned leash-less doggies.
Funny cigarettes
Are quite popular now
Smells like good Thai bud.
Pile of bottles
Of Old English Eight Hundred
That was quite a bash.
It sounds like they fight
Over who is the father
Of that small baby.
Roving gang of kids
Oh no, they’re coming my way
I fear for my life.
Hot and dusty Park
In polluted summer air
Phillies lose again.
Trash is everywhere
Diapers and pizza boxes
I can’t believe it.
Empty small baggies
Litter the ground before me
Kids and drugs these days.
Please put out that joint -
It makes it difficult to
Play well with your kid.
“Don’t tear down the fence,
Volunteers worked hard on that!”
I am tired of this.
The Board is pissed off
I’m sick of their lame complaints
I, Park President.
A motorcycle?
Really? A motorcycle?
That is dangerous.
Police in the Park
Move like slim ballet dancers
The waltz of the bust.
What’s that guy doing?
“Hey, this isn’t a toilet!
Put that thing away!”
A warm, dewy morn
People lie on benches in
The Pennsport Hilton.
Man hops on one foot
Someone just stole his left shoe
I have seen it all.
Toddlers in the Park
On Sunday mornings, looks like
Gang activity.
Don’t dump your trash here
What does this look like to you?
This isn’t Camden.
City landscapers
Do enjoy mowing flowers
That we have planted.
Dusk softly settles
Kids still playing in the Park
It is a nice scene.
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Love to Bike Philly Parks
I met my boyfriend at college in Vermont. He grew up in the Philadelphia area and was really excited to bring me home for a visit and to show me around the city. We LOVE outdoor activities like hiking, biking, and skiing. On my first visit we rode bikes all around Fairmount Park and along the river. Our ride ended at the Waterworks with the amazing view (shown in the picture) of the Art Museum and the city. I immediately fell in love!! Since graduating we have moved to Philadelphia and ride the bike path or romp around exploring Fairmount Park almost every weekend in the warm weather.
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Important News on our May 11th Service Day
The forecast looks a little tricky for Saturday. We will post any cancellations on our Volunteer page and on our Love Your Park Facebook page. Please take a look before heading out on Saturday.
Thank you for LOVING Your Park!
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Thank you for a Wonderful Love Your Park Week!
We wish to extend a huge THANK YOU to the over 100 groups across the city that participated in Love Your Park Week from May 11th – 18th. We had a blast and thanks to the energy of all of the incredible volunteers, we really made an impact! Special thanks to ACE Charitable Foundation, NovaCare Rehabilitation, US Facilities, All Seasons Landscaping, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for their support.
At the city-wide clean up on May 11th, 2013:
• 102 parks participated
•Over 2,000 volunteers enlisted (Over 550 were under 18)
•1,000 bags of trash collected
•253 trees planted
•Over 2,000 flowers and other plants planted
Other highlights included:
•79 events in parks across the city
•A ribbon cutting at Pleasant Hill Park
•The Hunting Park Tennis Court Dedication with Billie Jean King
•Open Barns Day at seven horse stable sites.
•Julian Able Park’s Grand Reopening
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Registration is open for our November 16th Love Your Park Fall Service Day!
Registration for park groups and volunteers has opened for our Love Your Park Fall Service Day. On Saturday, November 16th, 2013, join us for a citywide park cleanup! We will be raking leaves, planting trees and bulbs, working on special projects, and prepping Philadelphia’s parks for the winter. The success of the day depends on the hard work of volunteers. Come lend a hand! You too can make a difference in your community. No experience is necessary, as everyone has skills that contribute greatly. Groups are also welcome!
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LOVE Your Park Fall Service Day
On November 16th, 2013, eighty parks across Philadelphia participated in our LOVE Your Park Fall Service Day! We are so grateful for the hundreds of volunteers who pitched in to beautify their neighborhood park or naturalized area. The Fairmount Park Conservancy and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation celebrated the day with a cleanup at Jefferson Square Park and Sacks Playground at 4th St. and Washington Avenue. Citywide, we planted 160 trees and 8,600 bulbs and diverted thousands of pounds of leaves from the landfill by composting them at the City’s Recycling Center. We also celebrated the opening of a brand new park, Manton St. Park and Community Garden at 4th St. and Manton St. This beautiful pocket park is a jewel and will be greatly beloved by the neighbors. Enjoy these fantastic photos of the day, taken by our talented resident photographer Charles Bouril.
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LOVE Your Park Week is coming!
LOVE Your Park Week – May 10th – 17th, 2014
LOVE Your Park Week is a citywide celebration of Philadelphia’s diverse parks, featuring eight days of service projects, fun events, educational programs, family activities, tours, and more – at over 100 parks throughout Philadelphia! LOVE Your Park Week is a collaborative initiative between Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and park friends groups throughout the city.
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Stewardship Conference 2014!
Hello Park Friends!
Welcome to our new BLOG portion of the LOVE Your Park website! We are very excited to have a place where we can interact on a daily basis and where you can interact with each other!
My name is Meghan Geiser, and I am the new VISTA intern with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. To initiate our new blog, I would love to tell you about this past Saturday. On March 22, the Stewardship Team, a combination of members from Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and Fairmount Park Conservancy, held a conference for all of our Friends Groups at the University of the Sciences. We all had a great day of learning and collaboration to improve many aspects of our park work.
What a great turn out! Thank you to our 90+ Friends who participated in our Stewardship Conference on Saturday! And a special thank you to the University of the Sciences for their beautiful facility and great hospitality. Dr. Raluca Ellis, our keynote speaker from the Franklin Institute, started off our day with a fascinating discussion about climate change. It is inspiring to see how even the smallest green space can make a huge difference. We are very fortunate to be in a community that values our environment and sustainability. Afterwards, we had a series of breakout sessions led by our very talented presenters:
David Bower presented “How to Recruit and Keep Volunteers”, where we learned that recruiting and engaging volunteers requires commitment, enthusiasm, and communication. “Social Media 101 and 201”, presented by Alain Joinville and Moria Miller, discussed how to connect with others by using Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Nicolas Esposito presented “Park Garden Design for Sustainable Landscapes and Habitat”, where we learned how to create lasting change in the landscape of our parks.
Our day concluded with a delicious meal catered by the university and some fun trivia with Patty Pat! The Friends of Clark Park also gave a wonderful tour of their park right across the street.
Overall, we really enjoyed the opportunity to offer workshops that our Friends felt were helpful, and to see everybody as we prepare for another busy season!
Below is feedback from a few of our Friends Group members,
“I appreciate the interwoven organizational smarts & flexibility in your outreach to allow folks like me to attend this free but invaluable program. So often these days, one hears of the ineffectiveness of government and non-profit programs…..with some implication that the only effective operations are corporate, profit-driven, or occasionally institutional. But the clarity, effectiveness, & earnestness of the presentations from Michael DiBernardinis to PPR, FPC, the workshop presenters and after lunch fun-raising was a joy to experience. Great communication really goes a long way to create good will…..and you all “did good” providing good content and making us feel good in the process. I personally want you to know that it was enormously appreciated!”
“It was a fun, informative day, thanks to all the hard work it was a simply fabulous event. It makes me a believer that we can have fun and volunteer.”
“I thought the forum this morning was an overwhelming success with a lot of useful information exchanged between everybody, so I thought I’d share a document from David Bower on Volunteer Recruiting. Really insightful tips for our organizations.”
And here are some great photos from the conference!
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LOVE Your Park Week is almost here!
Thanks to everyone who has signed up to volunteer! The staff are running around the city getting ready for the big service day on Saturday. If you would like to volunteer, no need to go through the registration process – please feel free to find a park on the map and arrive on Saturday to help out.
We are watching the weather closely. Each park project leader will be making the call about whether to hold their service day. We will do our best to post any cancellations to the website.
Thanks to all of our park friend groups for hosting over 94 service days for LOVE Your Park Week!
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LOVE Your Park Week at Philly Pumptrack!
Hello Park Friends!
LOVE Your Park Week was a huge success! Thanks to our thousands of volunteers, Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and park Friends Groups – Philadelphia parks were celebrated during the week all over the city. This year, we had over 90 parks participate in the kick-off service day, and many Friends Groups held events in their parks throughout the week. On behalf of Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation and the Fairmount Park Conservancy, we want to thank our Friends Groups and all of the volunteers who came out to help keep Philly parks beautiful!
This year, LOVE Your Park Week was from May 10th to May 17th, and our signature site was the opening of Philly Pumptrack at Parkside Evans, located at 53rd and Parkside. A “pumptrack” is a small dirt course of bumps and jumps designed for BMX and mountain bikes. The pumptrack at Parkside Evans has two courses, one for smaller children/beginners and one track for the experienced riders. This is the first pumptrack in Philadelphia, and the community is excited to bring this to the neighborhood. To kick off the day, we had volunteers cleaning and greening the pumptrack and the area surrounding Parkside Evans. There were plants and trees planted, leaves raked in the tennis courts, invasive removal around the pumptrack, and a cleanup of the playground. A huge thank you to the Friends of Philly Pumptrack and all of our volunteers who came out Saturday morning!
Next, we heard from Mayor Michael Nutter, Deputy Mayor Mike DiBerardinis, Ed Fagan, Katharine Ott Lovell, Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. and Lucinda Hudson, a local community activist. As Mayor Nutter said, “We are trying to promote good healthy lifestyles, active engagement, exercise and good old fun! This is an exciting moment in Parkside, a pumptrack in our city!”
We would also like to give a shout out to three dedicated folks who worked alongside PPR and especially worked tirelessly on this project, Heidi Grunwald, Kenn Rymdeko and Harlan Price.
After the ribbon cutting, it was time for the Pump Jam – a party at the pumptrack! The tracks were filled with bikers of all ages, lots of music, raffles and giveaways. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and the Fairmount Park Conservancy are so excited to have this Pumptrack in Philadelphia, and this great kick off to LOVE Your Park Week.
The Philly Pumptrack will be open for the season – and if you don’t have your own bike, there are plenty of bikes available to rent (for free!) So go check it out! www.phillypumptrack.org/
Check out some news coverage from the Pumptrack:
http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/a-pump-track-for-the-people-of-philadelphia
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Clayborn & Lewis Service Day
On June 17, 2014 Philadelphia Parks and Recreation & Fairmout Park Concervancy teamed up with the PA Municipal League, PA DCNR, and local community members to revitalize the Clayborn & Lewis Playground. The PA Municipal league was in town for their 115th Annual Convention, and kicked off their stay in Philadelphia with a service project in West Philadelphia. The 57 total volunteers led by the Stewardship Unit were able to complete seven service projects to spruce up the playground and kick off the summer season. The volunteers assembled new playground equipment, repainted the basketball court and surrounding walls, repainted the picnic tables, planted new flower beds, redesigned bulletin boards, and had a general clean up of the playground and surrounding area. In addition, PPR staff installed a much-needed air conditioner for the community room inside the building. PPR Tree Keepers, Power Corps members, and District 8 Operations led by Lori and Rob also joined the service day and helped clear the overgrown wooded area behind the playground. PPR Skilled Trades also pitched in with special support from painters Bill and Crystal, along with playground specialist Mike Grone and his team. DJ Patty-Pat kept everyone whistling while they worked. The volunteers worked hard straight through to lunch time, and by the end of the service day the playground was truly transformed. They were then treated to a Philly-style lunch of hoagies and pretzels.
Special thanks to Leroy Lewis, a community leader who volunteers at the playground year round. This is a labor of love for Leroy, who serves his community in memory of his brother, one of the playground’s namesakes.
“Thanks to the great work which was done today, in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the PA DCNR, children and families in this neighborhood will have a wonderful, safe place to get active and stay healthy.” – Mayor Nutter
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Love Your Park Fall Service Day – Saturday, November 15th, 2014!
Hooray! As we settle into the fall season, it is time once again for parks all over Philadelphia to prep for the coming winter by sweeping, raking leaves, and planting bulbs that will peek out in the spring. The Philadelphia Department of Parks & Recreation and the Fairmount Park Conservancy are pleased to announce that our fall citywide service day will be on Saturday, November 15th, 2014! Our wonderful network of park volunteers will organize the day in each of their parks and choose the activities for the day. All of the leaves collected will be gathered and taken to the city Recycling Center to be turned into mulch and compost for the spring. Join your local park that day by volunteering HERE.
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Love Your Park Week 2015 Announced!
We are thrilled to announce that Love Your Park Week 2015 will be Saturday, May 9th – Saturday, May 16th! The week of park celebrations will begin with a citywide kickoff service day on Saturday, May 9th. Parks across Philadelphia will participate and will need volunteers to help clean, green, and beautify their spaces. This fantastic volunteer opportunity will be available for registration in early March, 2015. We will also have a full calendar of park events going on that week, so get ready to have a blast in Philadelphia’s parks!
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More Pages to Explore .....
