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MARCH, 2014 |
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1st Philly Pumpjam
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Saturday, May 10
1-4 p.m.
53rd & Parkside
Free event for all ages. Ride the tracks or watch a professional demonstration. Participate in a raffle or enjoy music and giveaways.
Presented by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and Friends of Philly Pumptrack, the event celebrates the ribbon cutting for the pumptrack, as well as the launch of LOVE Your Park Week.
For more information, visit phillypumptrack.org.
Download the event flyer
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What’s Hot in Urban Forestry: TreePhilly Spring Kickoff
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The TreePhilly team kicked off the spring tree giveaway season with a press conference in LOVE Park on February 20. Mayor Michael A. Nutter Nutter, Deputy Mayor/Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Commissioner Michael DiBerardinis and a special talking “Spokes-Tree” announced that more than 2,000 trees would be given away free as part of the TreePhilly initiative to make Philadelphia “The City of Arborly Love.” The announcement came after a show of affection in the form of arborly love notes like “My roots run deep. My love runs deeper.” and “I’m nuts about you.” hung in branches throughout Philadelphia.
Go to www.treephilly.org to sign up for your own free tree and come pick it up at one of the events this April:
Yard Tree Program Schedule
- Saturday, April 5, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, and 12 noon to 2 p.m., Pennypack Environmental Center (8600 Verree Road 19115)
- Sunday, April 6, 12 noon to 2 p.m., West Oak Lane Library (2000 Washington Lane 19138)
- Saturday, April 12, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Columbus Square Playground (1200 Wharton Street 19147)
- Saturday, April 12, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Bartram’s Garden (54th and Lindbergh Boulevard 19143)
- Saturday, April 12, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Hunting Park Recreation Center (900 Hunting Park Avenue 19140)
- Sunday, April 13, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Gorgas Park (6300 Ridge Avenue 19128)
Here are the trees that will be available at the spring giveaways:
- American beech – Fagus grandiflora
- White oak – Quercus alba
- Red maple – Acer rubrum
- Sassafras – Sassafras albidum
- Dolgo crabapple – Malus x ‘Dolgo’
- Winter King hawthorn – Crataegus viridus ‘Winter King’
- Serviceberry – Amelanchier laevis and A canadensis
- Moorpark Apricot – Prunus armeniaca ‘Moorpark’
- Brown Turkey Fig – Ficus carica ‘Brown Turkey’
- 20th Century Asian pear – Pyrus pyrifolia ’20th Century’
- Contender peach – Prunus persica ‘Contender’
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City Basketball Leagues |
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City Basketball Leagues will have their "March Madness" tournament beginning on March 17 and culminating on April 6 with the crowning of City Champions in five different age groups.
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Morris Park Leader Receives Keep America Beautiful Award
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Nicole Chandler, a Park Friends Group leader at Morris Park, has received the Keep America Beautiful Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson Award for her lifetime work to lead thousands of volunteers in litter prevention, waste reduction, recycling, and beautification and greening activities. In addition to her role at Morris Park, Nicole is also coordinator of Keep Royal Gardens Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and partner of Keep Philadelphia Beautiful. Nicole continues to secure significant in-kind donations and forge partnerships with local businesses and global corporations to ensure the work continues.
The Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson award was chosen from a national pool of volunteers. Nicole accepted her award at the Keep America Beautiful National Convention in Charlotte, NC earlier this month.
Continue reading about Nicole’s work and the Keep America Beautiful Award
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Video: District 2 Tumbling Meet |
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On February 12, over 100 athletes from Bridesburg, Cione and Lower Mayfair rec centers competed in the PPR District 2 tumbling meet in front of 200 spectators. Watch a video recap of the tumbling meet
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Parks and Recreation Commission Update |
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Congrats to our latest PaRC Star! Edward “Cookie” Flythe has been a community volunteer at the C.B. Moore Recreation Center for over 30 years. He has helped to focus youth in the direction of college, community, employment and self-esteem. His mentorship through his athletic training program has shaped born leaders and role models. It’s volunteers like Edward “Cookie” Flythe that help make our Recreation Centers work.
You can nominate a PaRC Star today! Just go to the Parks and Recreation Commission Facebook page and submit a nomination form.
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Job Opportunities: Part-time Field Inspectors |
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Philadelphia Parks & Recreation seeks (2) seasonal employees to work as field inspectors in the newly formed Operational Standards Unit. The Inspector will collect data and create reports as it relates to identified features at our PPR facilities city-wide. These are part-time opportunities. Candidates must have experience in data collection and ability to generate reports based on the data.
Learn more about the Field Inspector positions
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Energy-saving Field Light Initiative |
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As a reminder, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation is piloting a field lighting energy conservation initiative. PPR is using field lights only Monday to Friday, dusk to 10:30 p.m., mid-March through December. Field lights will be turned off at all other times, reducing energy usage by lowering the amount of time fields are lit while not in use. If you see field lights on at a PPR facility at non-designated times, please email PPR.EnergySaver@phila.gov.
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Morris Estate Before and After Photos |
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New Facility Supervisor Bill Arthur and staff have spent scores of hours upgrading Morris Estate since his arrival in September. They added a new music room, complete with a piano and pictures of famous composers, and installed a new dance studio. In addition to the cosmetic upgrades, there are many new programs available to users of the facility including a book club, the Star Players drama club and dance classes. Please check out a slideshow of before and after photos to see the impact of his team's work.
We love celebrating the hard work that facility staff do every day. If you have photos to share from a clean up or other project you have completed at your site, please email them to parksandrecreation@phila.gov.
View before and after photos of Morris Estate at http://ph.ly/MElooksgood
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Parks & Rec Stewardship Team: Take this job and shovel it!
By Patty-Pat Kozlowski |
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On Thursday, February 20, 2014 the Parks & Rec Stewardship Team did a site visit at the Clayborn and Lewis Playground, also known as 38th & Poplar Rec Center, in an effort to inspect the park for the upcoming PA Municipal League Service Day. Barbara McCabe, Director of Stewardship, hoped that Clayborn and Lewis could benefit from the influx of 50-60 volunteers during a workday this summer through the PA Municipal League’s community service program.
This small rec center sits in the shadow of the Philadelphia Zoo’s newly built parking garage and bears the name of two basketball coaches who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the military during the Vietnam War.
Clayborn and Lewis is an unstaffed facility, but the community group 39th and Poplar Organization provides breakfast and lunch to senior citizens five days a week in the building, using their own funds to offer meals. Leroy Lewis, brother of the rec center’s moniker, has been a volunteer and caretaker of the park for decades, doing what he does in memory of his brother.
About ten senior citizens are fed at Clayborn and Lewis, but the severe winter storms Philly has endured recently left the pavements and entrance to Clayborn and Lewis full of snow and ice-- an impassable walkway for seniors.
While the stewardship team inspected the site and noted the work needed to be done, Volunteer Coordinators Dave Bower, Jason Mifflin and Jackie Olson grabbed the shovels in their pickup trucks and started cracking away at the ice rink on the sidewalks. The rest of the stewardship team followed with shovels and brooms, and locals passing by beeped their car horns in appreciation and thanks. Within 20 minutes, the entire walkway and property was cleared of snow and ice, proving that many hands make light work and that during Philly’s winter, our VC’s never leave home without their shovels.
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Photos: Black History Month Art Contest Winners |
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View winners from the annual PPR Visual Arts Black History Month Contest
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Video: Bridesburg After School Program Slide Show Report |
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Find out what happened at Bridesburg Recreation Center’s After School Program in January 2014.
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Energy-saving Tip of the Month |
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Caulk small holes and cracks around ducts, pipes, exhaust fans, vents, sink and bathtub drains, fireplaces and under countertops.
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