JANUARY, 2016

16th National Arts Program® Exhibit

Now-February 19, 2016

The City of Philadelphia’s visual art exhibition program Art In City Hall, in collaboration with the National Arts Program Foundation, presents the 16th National Arts Program Exhibition at Philadelphia, featuring hundreds of works of art by City of Philadelphia employees and their families. The exhibition is open to the general public now through February 19 and is located on the second and fourth floors of City Hall, NE corner. 

Participating PPR staff and family members this year include:

• Eric Baker, Lifeguard
• Louis Baker, Seasonal Maintenance Attendant
• Christopher Baker, immediate family member of Louis Baker, Seasonal Maintenance Attendant
• Carmen Butler, Recreation Leader
• Leroy Butler, immediate family member of Carmen Butler, Recreation Leader
• Emily Coleman, Recreation Specialty Instructor
• Shara Gordon, Recreation Leader 2
• Christopher Windle, Recreation Leader 1

Learn more about the National Arts Program in Philadelphia

Reminder: LOVE Park Christmas Village

Now through December 27, visit LOVE Park for an authentic and exciting selection of European food, German Christmas ornaments and other great gifts for family and friends at the Christmas Village.

Christmas Village has been nominated for the 10 Best Holiday Market list poll by USA TODAY. Voting is open through Monday, December 21 at 11:59am EST. Show your Philly pride and vote for Christmas Village!

PPR Gears Up for the 2016 Mummers Parade

Once again, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation staff members are preparing for the Mummers Parade on New Year’s Day. The parade, which was established in 1901, features over 10,000 performers, crossing several generations. This year’s parade will include six divisions of performers, including one new addition called The Philadelphia Division. The new category was established to bring cultural diversity to the parade and will include performances from various ethnic groups that highlight their unique characteristics through music and dance. The acts participating in this division this year are: A Mexican group called Carnavale de Puebla en Philadelphia, a drag group called The Miss Fancy Brigade, Second to None Drill Team, and Los Bomberos, a Puerto Rican drum and dance group. This new division will kick off the festivities and will not be judged. As per usual, the parade will also include The Fancies, The Comics, The Comic Wenches and of course the ever popular String Bands.

Continue reading about the 2016 Mummers Parade

Reminder: Christmas at the Fairmount Park Historic Houses

There are only a few more opportunities to see the Charms of Fairmount Park dressed up in holiday finery! Visit www.parkcharms.com to learn more about Christmas open houses and tours.

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Pennypack Environmental Center Tiny Tikes Fitness Hike

Are you the parent of a young child and looking to get some exercise while enjoying the beauty of nature? Come out to the Pennypack Environmental Center on Friday, January 8 from 9:30-11 am for the Tiny Tikes Fitness Hike. This free event, facilitated by Environmental Education Planner Stephanie Hoffer Robinson, is for parents with children ages 2 and under. Children must be small enough to be carried or fit into a baby carrier, as the trails used for the hike do not accommodate strollers.

Continue reading about programming for caregivers of young children at Pennypack Environmental Center

East Passyunk Community Recreation Center

Earlier this month, City Council approved the naming of the facility at 1025 Mifflin Street as East Passyunk Community Recreation Center. Please stay tuned for additional updates on the center!

Job Opportunity: Street Tree Inventory Specialists

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation is seeking two employees for the duration of nine months to assist in the inventory and assessment of street trees. These individuals are needed to record the species, size, condition and location of street trees located in the City of Philadelphia. This work will be office-based, using highly accurate street level imagery accessed through a Geographic Information System (GIS). The Street Tree Inventory Specialists will perform all work following established Philadelphia Parks & Recreation protocols to ensure quality, expertise and consistency of the data collection.

Download the full Street Tree Inventory Specialists job description

Jardel Tumbling: Bridging Together Sports and Life Lessons

Jardel Recreation Center’s Gymnastics Program offers low cost, co-ed classes for kids ages 3-18, ranging from beginners to competition teams. Team placements are made based on skill level and age. For the past four years, the program has been under the direction of Danielle Heim, who has been a coach with Jardel Tumbling for ten years. However, Danielle could not run tumbling alone. The staff also includes Co-director Nicole Darrah and Head Coach Danielle Stehel, plus additional coaches and volunteers. The majority of the program’s staff are former Jardel gymnasts who wanted to fulfill their desire and love for the sport. Danielle and her staff continue to work in this program because they want to give their all to make it better and stronger each year and create programming that rivals more specialized gyms. They enjoy seeing joy and progression from the kids and having them continue for many years.

Continue reading about Jardel Rec’s tumbling program

Video: Bridesburg After School Program Slideshow Report

Find out what happened at Bridesburg Recreation Center’s After School program this November.

LOVE Park Christmas Tree Lighting

The 2015 Christmas Village in LOVE Park marked the beginning of the holiday season in Center City Philadelphia with the lighting of the official LOVE Park Christmas Tree. CBS 3's meteorologist Kate Bilo served as master of ceremonies for the evening events, which included the traditional lantern parade and performances by the Philly Pops. First Deputy Commissioner Mark Focht represented PPR, offering remarks and throwing the switch to light the tree. This will be the last Christmas tree lighting event for some time in LOVE Park as we make way for the extreme makeover set to begin in a few months. The new LOVE Park design will be a perfect setting for future Christmas Villages and tree lightings, but they must wait till 2017!

Bartram's Mile Trail Groundbreaking

On November 23, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation along with Mayor Michael A. Nutter, City officials, and members of the community, including school students from Woodland Academy and Richard Allen School, gathered to break ground on the Bartram’s Mile Trail. The future 1.1 mile trail will expand the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) from Grays Ferry Avenue to 56th Street and unlock an important connection point in the Circuit Trails, Greater Philadelphia’s multi-use trail network. The proposed trail will complete an important gap in the SRT, providing users with access to southwest Philadelphia and the historic Bartram’s Garden. The trail segment is expected to be completed by fall 2016.

Continue reading about the Bartram’s Mile groundbreaking

A PPR Holiday Tradition at Mann Older Adult Center

Martha Stewart better watch her back. The hostess with the mostest might have some competition with PPR’s own Barbara McCabe, Director of Strategic Engagement. Stewart might have a huge arts and crafts conglomerate, but McCabe has the senior citizens at the Fredric Mann Older Adult Center at 5th Street and Allegheny Avenue. For the past several years, McCabe has led a holiday craft-making workshop at Mann with about two dozen seniors. Some years they make fresh Christmas wreaths, but a favorite is table centerpieces.

Continue reading about holiday crafts at Mann Older Adult Center

Delaware Avenue Extension Dedication

On December 8, City leaders, along with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the Delaware River City Corp., the Philadelphia Streets Department and the Circuit, gathered with members of the Bridesburg community to celebrate the dedication of Phase 1 of the Delaware Avenue Extension, a new roadway and trail project built along the Delaware Riverfront Greenway in Northeast Philadelphia. The extension, connecting Port Richmond to Bridesburg, includes a 0.6-mile section of new roadway, a bridge over the Frankford Creek and a multi-use trail segment extending from Lewis Street to Orthodox Street. In addition to connecting the communities, the project provides a vital, direct route to and from I-95 for the industries situated north of Lewis Street, improving access for these waterfront businesses and relieving the Bridesburg community of large truck traffic on their neighborhood streets.

Continue reading about the Delaware Avenue Extension

Sixers Neighborhood Basketball League: A Thriving Partnership

The Sixers Neighborhood Basketball League (SNBL) is a partnership between PPR and the Philadelphia 76ers. The league, which is currently in its 22nd year, has approximately 2,000 participants ages 8 to 16 playing on close to 200 teams in 40 recreation centers throughout the city. This unique program provides kids with an opportunity to participate in a low to no-cost structured basketball program where everyone gets an equal chance to play a game they love. The program’s Tip Off event also gives participants the chance to be lead through drills by current 76ers players. The season begins in December and culminates in March with five city-wide tournaments, separated by age groups, called March Hoops Mania.

Continue reading about the SNBL program

Checking in with Feltonville Recreation Center

Adult Cooking Class

This fall, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation partnered with the Free Library, Penn State Extension, and Farm Philly to introduce a pilot cooking class at Feltonville Recreation Center. The targeted participants were adults with low-income who are primary caregivers to a child under 19 years old. Through hands-on cooking demonstrations and food tastings, participants in Feltonville’s program learned how to prepare nutritious meals while handling the food in a safe and proper manner. Additionally, the class gained useful knowledge about planning their grocery budgets and using their SNAP benefits wisely.

Continue reading about the adult cooking class at Feltonville Rec Center

Handball Team Competes in Brooklyn

There are currently eight handball courts in PPR facilities throughout the city, but it is an especially prevalent sport at Feltonville Recreation Center. The center’s handball court has been active for over 6 years, and the facility has a very active program led by the president of the Handball Association of Philadelphia, Wally Amaro. The program, which includes teenagers and adults, is co-ed. Feltonville typically plays in 3-4 tournaments per year in addition to an annual city-wide event. These tournaments, which are held at Feltonville as well as other recreation centers, attract a lot of people.

Continue reading about Feltonville’s handball team

Upper Roxborough Reservoir Tree Planting

On November 23, a PowerCorps PHL crew joined PPR Stewardship team's AeLin Compton and Emma Schad, and Friends of the Upper Roxborough Reservoir Preserve’s Tom Landsmann and Rich Giordano in leading 42 high school volunteers from Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. Together, the group planted 120 new trees at the Upper Roxborough Reservoir Preserve! The tree plantings varied from street trees to hillside slope trees, planted to expand the forest edge and start a new generation of healthy, native canopy. PowerCorps members gained professional development experience leading small groups of volunteers in digging, planting, and marking trees. This youth-powered event exposed some of the PowerCorps participants and volunteers to their first experiences in service to the environment. The project, coordinated by PPR Stewardship's Jason Mifflin and the Friends of Upper Roxborough Reservoir Preserve, was a continuation of their LOVE Your Park Fall Service Day, during which neighborhood volunteers planted 10 trees and installed a new bench and viewing area in the park.

In other PowerCorps news, two crews recently took a tour of the Indego bike share shop, took an urban biking class, and got free/discounted memberships for a period of time to assist them in getting to work in an affordable and sustainable way while doing sustainable work. Read more about PowerCorps PHL’s Indego visit.

Older Adult Centers Provide a Fun, Safe Place for Seniors

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation operates six older adult centers (OAC) throughout the city. These facilities, which receive partial funding from Philadelphia Corporation for Aging and Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, offer a plethora of services at a low cost to anyone age 55 or older. To a certain extent, the centers provide similar programming, like arts & crafts, fitness classes, English as a Second Language courses and social services, but each OAC also offers unique activities and programs tailored to its specific population.

Continue reading about PPR’s older adult centers

Roosevelt Playground Updates

Download an update on the following developments at Roosevelt Playground

• Selection as 2016 Astronomy Nite Partner
• December baseball
• A visit from the Paws Farm mini zoo
• An After School trip to the Shady Brook Farm Light Show

PPR Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Blind Bingo

On November 20, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation celebrated the 40th anniversary of Bingo for the Blind. The event, coordinated by staff from PPR’s District 3 (covering Olney, parts of Germantown, Juniata Park, Lower Northeast, Feltonville and Hunting Park), is a citywide bingo game for the blind population. Started in 1975 by District 3 staff members, the event’s original aim was to provide inclusion for people with disabilities that might not have a chance to get out in the community very often. In its early years, the event, now held twice a year in November and May, was hosted at Olney Recreation Center. Bingo for the Blind moved to Carousel House in the early 1990s, where it has been held ever since. Free to attend, the event typically attracts between 75-100 people. 

Continue reading about Bingo for the Blind