Author: admin

Parks on Tap Returns to Clark Park this Labor Day Weekend

  By

Parks on Tap

The Friends of Clark Park can’t wait to welcome back Parks on Tap. The beer garden will kick off in the park on Wednesday, August 29th at 5PM and will go to Monday, September 3rd at 10PM. Importantly, Park on Tap starts with a Happy Hour from 5-7PM on 8/29 where 50% of proceeds will go to support Friends of Clark Park. These fund raisers are essential in helping us keep Clark Park “Clean & Green” as we have this year by hiring outside contractors to help lend added support beyond our base city services.

Parks on Tap is a partnership between Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, Fairmount Park Conservancy, and FCM Hospitality that brings a beer garden to various parks throughout the summer. Parks on Tap offers fresh food, beer on tap, wine, snacks, and non-alcoholic beverages in a festive outdoor environment featuring comfortable chairs and hammocks, and clean restrooms. The event will also coincide with a number of other summer activities in Clark Park including:

 

  • THUR 8/30 | 6-7PM: Join Roots2Rise  for free yoga in the park! Donations are encouraged and those who donate will receive a free drink ticket to use at Parks on Tap that day.
  • FRI 8/31 | 7-10PM: Black Panther will be playing in Clark Park! Stop by for a bite and a brew before kickin’ back for the show!
  • SAT 9/1 | 10AM-6PM: Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day will return for its the sixth year!

 

Please join us in enjoying this wonderful event and by sure to come by for our Happy Hour on 8/29 from 5-7PM so you can help support Friends of Clark Park.

Why we don’t like vehicles in Clark Park

  By

Sometimes people wonder why we ask them not to drive in Clark Park.  An event this weekend provides a simple answer.

This event used a large stage in the Bowl for their presentation.   To bring the stage in, they used a large tractor – the kind used to pull an 18-wheeler truck.  Not only did they use it to pull the stage in, they left it in the Bowl during their presentation. Here’s the proof, in  photo taken during the event.

What you don’t see in that photo of the truck is the ruts it left in the sides of the bowl.  The worst of them are shown in the following photos, taken during the event by one of our members.

 

It will take months for these ruts to heal on their own, and a good deal of effort to repair them sooner.  In the meantime they are a tripping hazard for anyone walking in the bowl area as well as an eyesore.

I’m sure the organizers would be upset if someone drove a car through their front yards and left ruts like these. What I don’t understand is why they think they can abuse the park, a kind of “front yard” for the whole community.   We can only hope they pay more attention to the regulations on their permit next time.

Frank L. Chance, Secretary, The Friends of Clark Park.

Charles Dickens Birthday Celebration Sunday February 4, 2-4 PM

  By

Our annual celebration of Charles Dickens will be on Sunday, February 4, at Griffith Hall of the University of the Sciences, on 43rd street between Woodland Avenue and Kingsessing.

J

Join us for dramatic readings from Dickens stories and letters, and for music of the era.  Refreshments inspired by Victorian England will also be served, and we will finish the celebration by singing Happy Birthday at the Dickens (and Little Nell) Statue in Clark Park.

This event is free. family friendly, and open to the public.

Come and celebrate with us and you can be back at home watching the Superbowl Pregame Show at least two hours before the kickoff!

Members Meeting April 17: New PP&R Dog Policy

  By

Friends—

Our next  Members Meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 17 from 7 PM in Griffith Hall of USciences.

The primary agenda item is discussion of the new dog policy established by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.  Highlights include the following:

A volunteer neighborhood group can petition to start a dog run in a park. There are currently seven. The group must establish that there is strong community support, & also that it is willing & able to maintain the run independently of PP&R.

A park group can also petition to establish a dog-free zone. This comes with signage & all.

A citywide animal-control team has been contracted by the city to respond to & deal with low-grade dog offenses & issues. There is a number people can call. The police will respond to actual attacks by dogs on humans.

Outside a dog run, the leash law is in effect. The leash must be 6′ or shorter.

There is a nice list of other commonsense dog dos & don’ts.

PP&R understands the culture of de facto off-leash dog areas like the Bowl & it will leave well enough alone. As long as “unpermitted” dog use takes place in an orderly way, without arousing problems in the community, PP&R has no intention of interfering.

Please let me know if there are other agenda items for the meeting.

Frank L. Chance, Secretary
Friends of Clark Park
PO Box 31908, Philadelphia PA 19104
https://friendsofclarkpark.org
chancefl@gmail.com

Trash in Clark Park

  By

Yesterday, I spent three hours as a volunteer bagging trash in B Park.  I did this because we are between SMA’s (Seasonal Maintenance Associates), the summer season (funded by PP&R) having ended in October (with an extension to November 12) and the winter season (funded by UCD) having not begun yet.  So for two weeks the trash cans have gone untended, and as many people have noticed, they are overflowing.   I took the bags in the shed out and moved trash to the curb, putting in new bags, for a dozen or so of the cans around the Tot Lot and the bowl, until I ran out of bags and energy.   While doing this I had some thoughts about trash in the park.

First, please remember that everything you leave in a trash can in Clark Park has to be moved to the curb by hand.  There are no machines that come in and empty the cans (though the SMA uses a wheelbarrow).  In an ideal world we would like park users to take their trash with them, though we know that is unlikely.   But there are things you can do to help the situation.  If you are throwing away a water bottle, empty it first.  The trees need the water more than the trash truck does, and liquids are heavy.

Second, household trash has no place in park trash cans.   This applies equally to automotive trash, such as old tires, and to construction debris.   The SMA has enough work to do dealing with trash generated in the park, without having to deal with stuff brought in from elsewhere.

Third, if you have a party or a picnic in the park, please bring your own trash bags.  Ideally you should take that trash out of the park when you leave, but if you fill them and leave them beside the trash cans it is easy for the SMA to deal with it.   But if you put 30 dirty plates and cups into a trash bag, it is filled up and can’t be used by others.  So please add trash bags to your shopping list for parties in the park.

Thank you for your continued support of the Friends of Clark Park!

Meet FoCP’s New Officers & Directors for 2017

  By , ,

2016-boardFRIENDS OF CLARK PARK elected its annual Officers & Directors on Oct. 25 at its public Membership Meeting at Griffith Hall on USciences campus.

Elected to new office or continuing from last year’s election, 18 Officers & Directors will guide West Philadelphia’s premier regional park until October 2017. We rounded up 14 of them after the meeting & here they are, R-L:

Kevin Kearney, Tony West, Fran Byers & Chip Natarajan, Directors; Frank Chance, Secretary; Barbara Nolan, Vice President; Mary Anne Lucey, Milan Marvelous & Darryl Stovall, Directors; Lisa McDonald Hanes, President; & Don Webster, Ari Kessler, Jean Marie Kouassi, Samir Thaker & Kevin Roche, Directors.

P.S.: Those who missed the photo-op are still very much part of the park team!

North Park Is Under Construction

  By

central-plaza-2Starting Monday, the Central Plaza of the North Park (“A Park”) will be under construction for two related projects: installing long-awaited permanent chess tables to replace the ratty units the players now employ; & restoring the layer of stone fines (gravel) that now covers the plaza, which was installed in 2009 & has worn thin.

Your FRIENDS OF CLARK PARK membership dollars at work! A rough estimate of the cost is $15,000.

This is in addition to the soil-restoration project in the Parks on Tap beergarden area near 44th St. That’s coming out of the money the beergarden made for Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Dept.

For further updates on park-improvement needs & plans, come to Monday’s public General Membership Mtg. tomorrow, Monday evening, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. at Griffith Hall, USciences, 43rd St. & Kingsessing Mall. Attendance is free & open to all.

Any questions? Call Tony West at (267) 456-5687.

Fight for the Sugary Drinks Tax to Rebuild Our Parks & Schools!

  By , ,

PhiladelphiansForAFairFutureEven West Philly Bernie Sanders fans can get behind one of Hillary Clinton’s ideas!

Hillary Clinton has announced she is “very supportive” of Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s proposed Sugary Drinks Tax as the best way to rebuild the city’s bedraggled parks & recreation centers, as well as toget pre-K services for all young children.

The Democratic Presidential frontrunner told a packed forum in Philadelphia Wednesday evening: “I’m very supportive of the Mayor’s proposal to tax soda. I mean, we need universal pre-school. And if that’s a way to do it, that’s how we should do it.”

“This is major step forward for all Philadelphians who believe that we must invest in our children and in our neighborhoods, and we appreciate Secretary Clinton’s support for the plan to expand pre-K services throughout the city,” said Kevin Feeley, spokesman for Philadelphians for a Fair Future, the coalition of more than 50 citywide organizations supporting the proposed tax to fund investments in pre-K, community schools, & revitalized recreation centers, parks & libraries. “Her support helps the public understand that there is a critical need for these investments, and the proposed Sugary Drinks Tax is the fairest and most effective way to pay for them.”

The Sugary Drinks Tax is a means to pay for a bond issue that will lead to a $500 million investment to restore parks & education all across Philadelphia. It means jobs. It means families. It means growth. It means boosting real-estate values. It’s huge. We need it now.

FRIENDS OF CLARK PARK solidly backs this creative public policy & urges all park-lovers to let City Council know they demand it. It’s time we ended a lifetime of neglect for Philadelphia’s precious green spaces! We’ve been cheated before; enough is enough.

Philadelphians for a Fair Future represents a growing coalition of organizations from all walks of life in Philadelphia, including: Public Citizens for Children and Youth; the Philadelphia Parks Alliance; the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers; Education Voters of Pennsylvania; the Service Employees International Union; Center for Popular Democracy; the Alliance of Community Service Providers; the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children; Men United for a Better Philadelphia; Ceiba; Action United; Aspira; the Center for Science in the Public Interest; FOP Lodge 5; Firefighters Local 22; District Councils 33 and 47, AFSCME; Youth United for Change; and multiple community-development corporations and small-business owners from throughout the city.

The coalition’s activities are focused on raising public awareness about the importance of the Mayor’s budget investments and the need to enact the Sugary Drinks Tax as the only fair way to pay for them.