Friends of Clark Park

Farmers Market – Enjoy produce and other goods at the Clark Park farmers market every Saturday morning from 10AM to 2PM. The market’s location has shifted to the corner of Chester Ave and 43rd Street.

Uhuru Market – This monthly flea market will be in the park on April 20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the corner of S 43rd Street and Chester Avenue. Visit Uhuru’s website for more information. 

West Philly Bizarre – The West Philly Bizarre is a non-profit market providing low-cost vending opportunities to West Philadelphia. They are holding their first official market on April 6th. Stop by their booths to find an assortment of goods and wares. You can find further information on their website.

Yoga in the Park – Looking for some relaxing movement this month? Join Trinity on April 14 and 28 at Clark Park for an outdoors beginners yoga class. Purchase tickets here and follow Trinity’s Instagram for updates about the class. 

Tot Music With Ry – Join pre-k music teacher Ry Noss for a fun music class with your little ones. This class offers musical activities to young children and their caregivers including hello and goodbye songs, body warm ups, songs, rhythmic patterns, dance, shakers and more. Sessions are every Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the 4300 block on Baltimore Ave. 

We Walk Philly – Join the Clark Park chapter of this free city wide walking group. We Walk Philly meets on Mondays and Fridays at 8:30 a.m. at the Dickens Statue (43rd and Chester). Walks typically last 30-45 minutes. 

Clark Park’s Youth Soccer league will be back in action this fall and registration is open until April 10th. Our soccer league offers a low pressure, community oriented and volunteer fueled sports program for our Clark Park neighborhood. The league enables kids to discover soccer while engaging with a wide community of children from throughout West Philly. It is focused on creating an inclusive environment for children of all skill levels & interest levels, our coaching team finds a way for everyone to enjoy a great day in the park.

This season will take place every Saturdays from April 20th to June 8th with teams meeting at either 9:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., or 10:00 a.m. for one hour. The league covers kids from ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade. Additionally, we hold a Pre-K Clinic for four-year-olds with Coach Adi every other Saturday at 8:30 am during the season (email soccer@friendsofclarkpark.org to register). In order to participate this season you must be a member of Friends of Clark Park! Once membership is paid, the fees for soccer are $20 for the first child, and $10 for each additional child (from the same household). PreK clinic is free for members.

Sadly, some of our longtime volunteer coaches have left the neighborhood, so we really need adult volunteers to join the ranks. No experience is necessary, just the enthusiasm to help kids stay safe and have fun. Let us know during registration or email us directly at soccer@friendsofclarkpark.org. Feel free to reach out with any other questions!

Philadelphia Parks and Recreation is hiring a West Philly Parks Assistant to support Clark Park and Malcolm X Park! This position is a great opportunity to work across West Philly Parks improving visitor experience and community engagement. They are seeking an individual who is passionate about public space and community engagement. A key skill will be the ability to be good cultural traveler and good listener, who is capable of starting dialogue and building trusting relationship with the diverse communities who utilize these spaces. Additionally, this person will focus on supporting smooth operations of the market in Clark Park and organizing youth programming at Malcolm X Park

Pay is $15 an hour. Schedule will adjust seasonally, some nights and weekends. More information can be found here. Reach out to pprstewardship@phila.gov with a resume and cover letter to apply

We are sad to report FoCP has lost one of our founding members. Fran Byers, who helped organize the Friends in 1976, and was a dedicated member since, passed away February 27th. She was 83.

Fran lived her entire life in our community, one block away from the park, and was an active member in many neighborhood groups, but her dedication to Clark Park knew no bounds. She headed many of our activities, Bark in the Park, the Veterans Day celebration and Christmas caroling among them.

Fran had served as President many times and was still active at the time of her death. A threat to remove the internationally famous Dickens statue from removal triggered the original drive by Fran and fellow activists to create Friends of Clark Park; decades later, she still proudly served the cake at Dickens Birthday Party.

Newer board members will remember her for her unmatched energy and dedication to the traditions of the park, no matter her personal circumstances. We have all benefited greatly from Fran’s love for our park, and we dedicated a bench in her name at the Gettysburg Stone several years ago to show our appreciation. We will miss her – and tend the park with love in her honor.

The funeral is at St. Francis DeSales Church on March 7, 6:30pm. Burial is next day, 1pm, at Holy Cross Cemetery 626 Baily Road, Yeadon

Large Events 2024 Calendar Planning Meeting 2024 will take place Dec. 19th at 7pm on zoom. This meeting is open to the public. If you are interested in requesting a large events date for the 2024 calendar please email events@friendsofclarkpark.org for the calendar date request form as well as the zoom link. Please note, the agenda for this meeting will only be the calendar and a date will follow in January for other large event concerns.

For the first time since 2006, the City approved a plan to rejuvenate Clark Park. This new plan includes nature-based playgrounds, a multi-height basketball hoop, a permanent bathroom, and many other improvements to Clark Park. Check out the full details here.

Please support our first fundraising drive for The Plan for Clark Park! Every single donation—no matter how small—shows our community supports The Plan for Clark Park.

DONATE HERE

In addition to helping fund The Plan for Clark Park, your donations will go toward:

Cleaning the Park – Funds will provide volunteers with tools and supplies such as rakes, shovels, gloves, and light refreshments for monthly volunteer work days. The funds will also pay for a maintenance contractor to combat rapid trash accumulation when the park is at its busiest by picking up litter and emptying trash cans.

Gardening Program – Your donation will go toward supplying new plants including shrubs and flowers to make the garden plots lush with color and supply volunteers with tools. A professional arborist is regularly hired for major pruning work on the trees. 

Usability – Your donation also funds continued projects to help improve how we use the park everyday such as the installation and maintenance of benches, picnic tables, and the chess tables. We also continue to purchase and refresh the orange chairs and tables regularly.  

These programs are crucial to keep Clark Park the vibrant public space we all love, but they come at a significant cost and you can make a difference with your contribution. Please keep in mind that Friends of Clark Park is a non-profit section 501(c)(3) organization and your contributions are tax deductible. 

As many of you know over much of the last year the Friends of Clark Park in collaboration with University City District and Jamie Gauthier’s office have been hard at work drafting an update to the Master Plan for Clark Park. We were excited to be able to share the final draft of the Master Plan at the Clark Park Farmers Market last weekend and now wanted to post a few images for the whole community to see.

For context our Master Plan provides a guiding light for park investment. Our latest revision, the first since 2006, offers an opportunity to update the plan to meet the key needs of the community today. This plan builds on many months of engagement with the West Philly community and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation through many rounds of outreach (both online and live) and numerous community meetings to gather feedback. A huge thank you to Studio Bryan Hanes for all the hours they have put in to facilitate this process and bring the community vision to life. 

Master Plan Shareout Postponed! Given the rain tomorrow we will be unable to share the proposal for the updated Clark Park Master Plan without ruining the drawings. Please join us next week either at our annual meeting (10/16 Griffith Hall at 7:30) or at the upcoming Farmers Market (10/21) to discuss.

Care about the future of Clark Park? Over much of the last year the Friends of Clark Park in collaboration with University City District and Jamie Gauthier’s office have been hard at work drafting an update to the Master Plan for Clark Park.  Our Master Plan, last updated in 2006, provides a guiding light for park investment. Our latest revision offers an opportunity to update the plan to meet the key needs of the community today. This plan builds on many months of engagement with the West Philly community and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation through many rounds of outreach (both online and live) and numerous community meetings to gather feedback. We are excited to be able to share the final draft of the Master Plan and will be live at the Clark Park Farmers Market on October 14^th with Jamie Gauthier sharing the plan and hearing feedback.

We also want to share a huge thank you to Studio Bryan Hanes for all the hours they have put in to facilitate this process and bring the community vision to life.

Calling all dogs of West Philly! Bark in the Park is back again for its 31st year. 

We hope to see you and your furry friend there! 

Clark Park’s Youth Soccer league will be back in action this fall and registration is now open. Our soccer league offers a low pressure, community oriented and volunteer fueled sports program for our Clark Park neighborhood. The league enables kids to discover soccer while engaging with a wide community of children from throughout West Philly. It is focused on creating an inclusive environment for children of all skill levels & interest levels, our coaching team finds a way for everyone to enjoy a great day in the park.

This season will take place every Saturdays from September 16th to November 4^th with teams meeting at either 9:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., or 10:00 a.m. for one hour. The league covers kids from ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade. This year there will also be PreK Clinic for a fun morning run-around with Coach Adi on Sept. 23, Oct. 7, Oct. 21, and Nov. 4 at 8:30 am (email soccer@friendsofclarkpark.org to register). In order to participate you must be a member of Friends of Clark Park! Once membership is paid, the fees for soccer are $20 for the first child, and $10 for each additional child (from the same household). PreK clinic is free for members.

Sadly, some of our longtime volunteer coaches have left the neighborhood, so we really need adult volunteers to join the ranks. No experience is necessary, just the enthusiasm to help kids stay safe and have fun. Let us know during registration or email us directly at soccer@friendsofclarkpark.org. Feel free to reach out with any other questions!