MAY, 2015

Dear Friends:

As the weather finally began to feel like spring last week, it seemed appropriate we meet to discuss newness and growth within the department, mainly through the Youth Workforce Development Program. To those who were able to attend one of the all-staff meetings, thank you; your excitement was encouraging and your feedback was invaluable. To those who were unable to attend, I invite you to download the slideshow presentation to learn more about our expanded workforce development program. After reviewing the slides, please email your responses to the questions on page 14 to parksandrecreation@phila.gov.

The main themes that resonated in last week’s feedback concerning the Youth Workforce Development Program were (1) your enthusiasm to help shape and improve the future of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the city of Philadelphia and the lives of individual young people; (2) the need for both staff and participant training to ensure effective program implementation and (3) the importance of additional resources to support staff in the field. We agree with this input and will provide the essential development supports to make this program a success for all who are involved.

The Administration’s decision to entrust this department with this responsibility is a direct acknowledgement of your long-standing positive work with young people. I am proud of this recognition and look forward to working with you to build a stronger and better prepared workforce. Thank you for your public service.

Your Vote Could Get Your Favorite PPR Location Funding!

Support Your Favorite Philadelphia Park or Playground This Earth Month

Now through April 30, we’re excited to be a part of Parks Build Community, a collaboration between the National Recreation and Park Association, Disney, ABC and ESPN to help revitalize parks across the country including a playground, park and recreation center right here in Philadelphia.

Every day in April you can vote for one of three PPR locations to receive a $20,000 grant. The spot with the most votes at the end of April will receive the funding. The projects you can vote for are:

• Beautify Glavin Playground: adding new green space including container gardens, seating and nature-play element
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center Beautification: A new garden to provide food for wildlife like birds, bees, and butterflies.
• Pennypack Environmental Center Picnic Area: Upgrade picnic area and make it accessible for visitors with disabilities, as well as a sensory garden and play area.

All of Philadelphia’s public spaces make our lives better by inspiring healthy living, protecting the environment and bringing people together. Show your love for your local parks this Earth Month by visiting them and voting for your favorite project every day!

Learn more and vote

Future Sensations at The Oval

From Saturday, May 30 through Saturday, June 6, a never-before-seen global exhibition will provide an experiential journey of science, storytelling and art at The Oval.

Making its only U.S. tour stop in Philadelphia, "Future Sensations" celebrates the 350th anniversary of one of the world’s largest building materials companies, Saint-Gobain, which was founded in 1665 and has been involved in building such iconic sights around the world as the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, the glass pyramid at the Louvre and the Statue of Liberty.

Learn more about Future Sensations

Pop-Up Pool Project Awarded Knight Grant

This summer, we are partnering with the Fairmount Park Conservancy and Group Melvin Design on the "Pop Up Pool Project," thanks to a grant from the Knight Foundation. Local urban planner Ben Bryant's idea to add movable seating, shade, planters and programming to the concrete decks at the City's pools received a $297,000 grant from the Knight Foundation as a part of the first Knight Cities Challenge. His was one of seven winning projects in Philadelphia, more than any other city.

Learn more about the Knights Cities Challenge projects

Grow Up Green at Smith Memorial Playground

Each Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. between April 16 and May 21, staff from Philadelphia Parks & Recreation will introduce a different outdoor activity to children at Smith Memorial Playground. These free, hands-on activities will teach kids from the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood near Mander Playground and Gathers Recreation Center about nature through different weekly themes.

2015 LOVE Your Park Week: May 9-16

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 collaboration between Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the Fairmount Park Conservancy and Park Friends Groups throughout the city. Sign up to volunteer on Saturday, May 9, plus check out the full event calendar

2015 Summer Sports Camps

Our Summer Sports Camps are designed for, but not limited to, the children of Donald Finnegan Playground, Piccoli Playground and McDevitt Rec Center who are interested in one, two or several different sports and activities. The camp goal is to increase knowledge, skill and sportsmanship in several sports activities. PPR also seeks to instill a spirit of cooperation, build self-esteem, encourage healthy competition and to develop athletic abilities in campers at these facilities. Instruction will consist of skills training, drills and small-sided games with the emphasis on fun, skill development and learning the fundamentals of the games.

Download the 2015 Summer Sports Camps flyer to learn more

Sheep Shearing at Fox Chase Farm

The 2015 Fox Chase Farm Sheep Shearing Festival will take place on Saturday, April 25 from noon to 4 p.m. Watch as sheep are sheared, help card wool and enjoy hayrides, crafts, games, live music and more. $3 adults and children.

Executive Team Conversation Series

Wednesday, May 6, 5-6:30 p.m.

Logan Square Café at Sister Cities Park (200 N. 18th St., Logan Circle)

Please join us for an evening with Deputy Commissioners Mark Focht and Susan Slawson as they speak and answer questions about their backgrounds and experience, as well as what led them to the positions they hold today. Food and drink will be available for purchase at the café.

The Really Awesome Art Show

Art Education Annual Exhibition
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 14, 2015, 4 to 7 p.m.
Exhibition on view: May 11-27 (Tuesday-Friday; 12-6 p.m.)
Asian Arts Initiative (1219 Vine Street)

This annual City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program exhibition features artwork by over 250 youth artists, addressing topics that affect us all. Each year, Mural Arts offers free citywide art classes through its Art Education program-- including programs in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation like Arts & Artists Outdoors -- which equip over 1,000 students with leadership skills, tools to craft their futures and opportunities to dream.

Nature's Hidden Surprises Walk Series

I Street & Ramona Avenue
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

FREE monthly morning nature walk in Tacony Creek Park. Join TTF Environmental Educator Judith Gratz! Creeks and critters to trees and birds, who knows what we'll discover!

• Wednesday, May 6: Invasive Plants vs. Native Plants
• Wednesday, June 10: Adaptations
• Wednesday, July 8: Trees are terrific
• Wednesday, August 12: Creek Study..Macroinvertebrates
• Wednesday, September 19: Wetlands & Watersheds
• Wednesday, October 14: Fungus Walk

Contact Doryán de Angel at doryan@ttfwatershed.org or (215) 744-1853 for more information.

Video: Harvey Promotional Video

Watch this video to learn more about the Star Players of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s upcoming performances of the hit comedy Harvey at the Venice Island Performing Arts & Recreation Center.

Arbrew Day

Join PPR for the second annual #ArbrewDay on April 24, a fun way to celebrate Arbor Day with TreePhilly, the Fairmount Park Conservancy and Yards Brewing Company! TreePhilly will be giving away free yard trees, enjoying great specials on Yards brews and selling the coveted "Drink Beer. Plant Trees." t-shirts at 10 bars across the city. See treephilly.org for details, including locations.

View flyer

Comcast Cares Day & Spring Clean Up

Saturday, April 25, 2015, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Rivera Recreation Center (5th and Allegheny)

(215) 685-9887

Come out to help get our park ready for summer activities!

• Clean up the fields and playground areas!
• Give the building a fresh coat of paint!
• Prepare our gardens for spring plantings!
• Help spruce up our neighborhood for all to enjoy!!
• Light refreshments served.

In addition, volunteers will clean up Shepard Recreation Center and Monkiewicz Playground. Learn more about these Comcast Cares Day volunteer opportunities.

LOVE Park Redesign: Final Concept Presentation

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Skyline Room, Free Library Main Branch (1901 Benjamin Franklin Parkway)

The final design concept will be presented for public comment. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; presentation begins at 6 p.m.

We’re Hiring!

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation is hiring for seasonal positions:

• Lifeguards
• Dell Music Center Marketing Intern

In addition, be sure to check the City of Philadelphia Job Opportunities pages regularly for updates.

PPR’s “My Plate” Contest

In March, PPR held a “My Plate” contest to encourage nutrition in eight recreation centers that had been visited previously by the Be Healthy program. The “My Plate” project taught children about the major food groups and helped them design a balanced meal around those groups. Participating sites included Martin Luther King, Jr., Athletic, Mander, Gathers, James Wright, Miles Mack, Mill Creek and Clemente playgrounds and recreation centers, and children ranged from ages 6 to 8.

View a list of “My Plate” contest winners

Chipmunks Spotted at Pennypack Environmental Center

Chipmunks were spotted at Pennypack Environmental Center for the first time this year on Wednesday, April 1, just in time for the Center’s "Chippy Chipmunk Babies in the Garden" story and craft activity! Both children and adults were very excited to see the little chipmunks eating the corn... a sign that spring has finally arrived!

Bridesburg Cheerleading Champions

The Bridesburg Cougars Under 8 Cheerleaders won their age group’s National Championship at a meet in Disney World (Orlando, FL) the weekend of March 21 and 22. A great job by all, especially coaches Katie Carr and Angela Boyers. Way to represent Philadelphia, Bridesburg ,and Parks & Recreation!

2015 Major Road Closures and Detours

Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Kelly Drive experience detours and closures throughout the spring, summer and fall. Download a list of 2015 detours and closures to discover how scheduled events might impact your plans.

Run, Val, Run!

Congratulations to PPR's own Valarie Arhondakis who once again ran the 2015 Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20! Val is a veteran runner who hits the treadmill, trails and tracks throughout the city of Philadelphia, and this marathon marks her eighth run up in Beantown. Go VAL!

Creating Animal Houses for the Wissahickon

New, cedar birdhouses are being built by the hands of Wissahickon Environmental Center employees and volunteers from the Friends of the Wissahickon wildlife committee. Steve O'Kula and Rich Berman (featured in picture) have been constructing wooden houses for birds, owls, hawks and even bats to be hung up out into the Wissahickon Valley at various locations. The committee volunteers who are helping construct these boxes are also generously paying for the materials in order for them to be made. With these donations, they have built 25 cedar bluebird houses, 12 wood duck boxes, 8 owl/hawk boxes and 10 bat boxes. This was a winter project to keep the volunteers actively engaged in the organization and community they care so much about. Other volunteers who have offered their time to help with this project are Buzz Wimple, John Caputo and Sam LePera. Be on the lookout this spring for new wildlife boxes in the Wissahickon Valley!

Vogt Recreation Center Easter Egg Hunt

On March 28, Vogt Recreation Center celebrated spring with a pancake breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt, including a special appearance by the Easter Bunny. The children and their families had a wonderful time. Parents took plenty of pictures, and children filled their baskets full of eggs and prizes.

Reminder: Philadelphia Recycles, All Together!

IN: cardboard, paper, metal, cartons, plastics, glass bottles and glass jars.

OUT: plastic bags, soiled paper and cardboard, tissues/ paper towels/napkins, styrofoam, electronics, rubber, fabrics. Consider composting! Some of these items will compost, including food waste!

Blast from PPR's Past

Thank your lucky stars that the new Find Your Path swag shirts, hats and polos are so stylish and work-ready. Look what the official Department of Recreation uniform looked like back in July 1961! Pictured are Jack Grosse and Virginia Hancock modeling the clothes at Smith Playground 54 years ago.

PowerCorps Service to Neighborhood Park SMA

The Parks Stewardship Office has been hiring Seasonal Maintenance Attendants (SMAs) to provide basic maintenance service to our neighborhood parks since 1999. Through this annual maintenance program, Parks & Recreation can provide the “safe, clean and ready to use ” for our parks, and then our Friends groups and local community organizations can “use them” to organize community events such as concerts, movie nights, workshops and festivals as well as beautification projects such as installing gardens and planting trees. These activities bring neighbors together and help to build broader support for the park and neighborhood.

The SMAs work from mid-April to mid-October, and the daily attention and service they provide during these busy, outdoor months is a key component of the success of the Parks Stewardship Program.

Many of the Park SMAs hired over the years are local residents referred to us by our Park Friends groups, have strong ties to the community and return year after year to the program.

However, every year we typically have a few openings in the parks for new SMAs, and now we have a new in-house source for SMA candidates: PowerCorps PHL.

Continue reading “PowerCorps Service to Neighborhood Park SMA”

Photo: Last Day of REACH

This picture is from the last day the REACH System artists visited the Cohocksink After School program. Pictured in the middle of the children is Erin Marie Hughes, a Recreation Specialty Instructor who has been working with them since October. The Cohocksink children wanted to say goodbye, and they did it with a picture, flowers and few personally written letters. What a great expression of gratitude from our young participants!

Plants Make Positive Places Pilot Project

Thanks to a $30,000 grant from the Innovation Fund, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation has launched the Plants Make Positive Places (P3) pilot project to test and measure the feasibility of native plant propagation and reuse within PPR’s system. P3 will embed the reuse of viable, PPR-owned native plant material to expand plants’ positive aesthetic, educational and ecological impact. Eric Blasco of Erb Food & Garden, LLC has been hired as the contractor to meet with PPR staff and implement the pilot project.

The Innovation Fund offers seed money (currently $100,000) for interesting, new ideas with the potential to improve the services and functions of municipal government. The Fund itself, as well as the process for identifying and resourcing promising ideas, is managed collaboratively by the Innovation Management team at the Office of Innovation & Technology along with the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia. With the Innovation Management group coordinating the process, a cross-departmental working group assumes primary responsibility for gathering, assessing, and prioritizing ideas before subsequently matching them with appropriate resources and partners for implementation. To learn more, contact Andrew Buss, Director of Innovation Management, at andrew.buss@phila.gov.

PPR Representation at PRPS

This March, several Philadelphia Parks & Recreation staff members attended the 68th Annual Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society Conference in Lancaster, PA. Parks & Facilities Chief of Staff Barry Bessler served as the conference’s Awards & Recognition Committee’s chairperson, and Director of Strategic Initiatives Kathi Muller served on the Program Committee.

PPR staff presentations included:

• Ed Fagan & Moria Miller: Pumptracks: Youth Development, Workforce Development & Fun!
• Download the presentation
• Download the handout
• Mary Grace Gorman: Incorporating Nature-based Play in an Urban Environment
• Barb McCabe: State Rec Plan in Action: LOVE Your Parks
• Download the presentation
• Kathi Muller: It’s Not an Internship…It’s a Partnership!
• Bill Salvatore: Rec Kids Today, Leaders Tomorrow
• Download the presentation

Additionally, Yuan Chao Li (VISTA) and Julien Carrasquillo (Volunteer Services/Stewardship) accompanied 20 citizen volunteers representing Park Friends groups and Advisory Councils to a special “Recreation & Park Citizens and Friends Day” event.

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation also received an “Excellence in Recreation and Parks” award for the Philly Pumptrack at the conference’s awards banquet.

Finally, Andy Viren and Alain Joinville attended the conference for educational purposes.

What’s Behind the Name: District 2

Did you ever wonder what or who is the inspiration for the name of our parks, playgrounds and recreation centers? In District 2, we took the initiative to share some knowledge.

Here is what we learned…

• Bridesburg: While Bridesburg is named for the community in which it sits, the community is named after Joseph Kirkbride, (1662-1738), who came to the colonies with William Penn and served, among other duties, as a Justice in the county of Bucks.
• Cohocksink: The facility at Cedar and Ann Streets is named for the Cohocksink Creek, formerly a stream running between what are now the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Northern Liberties and Kensington. It was a tributary of the Delaware River. Its name, spelled various ways, is said to come from a Lenape word for "pine lands."

Continue reading What’s Behind the Name: District 2

Dawn's Place Community Art Day

Dawn's Place Community Art Day took place in JFK Plaza the afternoon of April 11. Dawn's Place is a safe and secure residential program-- the only one in the tri-state region-- for international and American women who are making the journey from commercial sexual exploitation to a life of freedom, choices and independence. Dawn's Place is also an organization dedicated to combating sex trafficking through raising awareness and changing public policies.

Photo: Chalfont Playground Dance Recital

This dance program ran from September to March and included participants from age 3 through adult. More than 250 participants and supporters attended the show at Lincoln High School on March 28. Thanks to Chris Reilly, facility supervisor at Chalfont, who oversaw the entire dance program, as well as the staff of dance teachers and ARl Mike Deegan.

Featured March Madness Photo Contest Winner

Lori Hayes, Operations District Manager, submitted this picture of hazardous tree removals and pruning for public safety on Lincoln Drive in the northwest. Thanks for showing us how you and your colleagues make a difference, Lori! Lori will receive a hooded PPR sweatshirt as thanks for her submission.

Do you have a photo that demonstrates how PPR makes a difference in the community? Only a few hooded sweatshirts remain, so enter the photo contest ASAP!

REACH STEM Activity: Lava Lamps

On March 20, the After School participants at Roosevelt Playground made lava lamps. After an explanation, they formed a hypothesis, wrote down what was happening during the experiment, then wrote down their conclusions. The lamps were made from plastic bottles filled three-fourths of the way with vegetable oil, water, food coloring and broken pieces of effervescent tablets.

Lisa Whittle, Aquatics Coordinator, was present doing a REACH observation and, thankfully, helped out with the experiment. Prior to her volunteering, the rec leader had more vegetable oil on the table than in the bottles! Lisa also treated the children and staff to soft pretzels. As they used to say in the fraternity, "a good time was had by all."/p>

Staff Changes

Promotions

Joseph Gregorski - Departmental Payroll Supervisor 2

Deborah Hoffer - Older Adult Center Director

Joseph Fagan- Older Adult Center Director

Gerald McFeeley -Park and Recreation Operation Manager

Transferred In

Joseph Greenwood - HVAC Mechanic 2

Sonyata Griffin - Administrative Assistant (Non-Confidential)

Departures

Eartha Billie – Clerk Typist 2

8th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup

Mayor Michael A. Nutter and the Philadelphia Streets Department announced results of the 8th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup, held on April 11. A total of 14,460 volunteers participated in cleaning and greening projects across Philadelphia, which broke last year’s record of 14,225 volunteers. For this year’s cleanup there were 723 projects, surpassing last year’s record of 565 sites. Volunteers removed a total of 953,640 pounds of materials from cleanup sites throughout the city. This year’s cleanup continued with the theme “Keep Up the Sweep Up” to encourage cleaning efforts year round.

View more Philly Spring Cleanup figures

Video: Bridesburg After School Program Slideshow Report

Find out what happened at the Bridesburg Recreation Center After School Program in March 2015!