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SEPTEMBER, 2017 |
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Job Opportunities |
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TreePhilly Fall 2017 Community Yard Tree Giveaway: Grant Application |
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TreePhilly’s Community Yard Tree Giveaway program empowers community groups to help restore Philly’s urban forest – starting in their own backyards! Through this program, TreePhilly (a partnership of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Fairmount Park Conservancy, and TD Bank) provides small grants to local community groups so they can host yard tree giveaways in their neighborhoods. TreePhilly provides the trees, education, and event support so community groups can do what they do best: connect with constituents to improve their neighborhoods.
Interested in hosting a Community Yard Tree Giveaway in your community? Submit a grant application by Friday, August 25.
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South by Southwest Cities Summit: Vote for US Soccer Foundation Panel Featuring PPR Commissioner |
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Voting is now open for speakers and panels at South by Southwest… and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell is part of a panel under consideration, “Using Soccer to Tackle Community Challenges”! This panel addresses how cities across the country are addressing issues like a lack of safe public space, rising obesity rates, and juvenile delinquency and truancy by bringing quality soccer programming to neighborhoods.
Want to help spread the word about how cities can help transform their neighborhoods through soccer? Vote for the SXSW Cities Summit panel featuring Commissioner Ott Lovell by this Friday, August 25.
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Philadelphia International Unity Cup Updates |
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September 8-November 11 at soccer facilities citywide
On Friday, September 8 at 6:30pm, the 2017 Unity Cup kicks off at Ramp Playground! Over the next nine weeks, 48 teams will compete in a World Cup-style soccer tournament, culminating in the championship game at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday, November 11.
Want to get involved with this year’s Unity Cup excitement? Attend a game: check out the full schedule! You can also:
- Volunteer: We’re seeking individual or group volunteers (14-and-up) to help make sure the matches run smoothly. Volunteers assist with ball snagging, greeting/directing, and parking… and receive an exclusive Unity Cup Volunteer t-shirt! Sign up to volunteer.
- Participate in the Unity Cultural Exchange: New this year, the Unity Cultural Exchange offers a 9-week enrichment program that gives 6-12 year-olds the opportunity to see the world without leaving the city. Participants will experience firsthand the countries, cultures, and neighborhoods that make up this year’s tournament, each Saturday from September 16 to November 11. Learn more and register for the Unity Cultural Exchange.
- Join the Unity Youth League: Just as the Philadelphia International Unity Cup promotes diversity through the sport of soccer, the Unity Youth League, a program developed from the US Soccer Foundation’s Soccer for Success, introduces kids to the sport while promoting diversity. The Unity Youth League returns this September to sites in South and Southwest Philadelphia: Capitolo Playground, Connell Park, DiSilvestro Playground, Francis Myers Recreation Center, Guerin Recreation Center, James Finnegan Playground, and Sacks Playground. Learn how your child can participate in this fall’s Unity Youth League.
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Boxers’ Trail 5K |
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September 9 at Mander Playground
On Saturday, September 9, walk or run the scenic cliff paths of the Boxers’ Trail in East Fairmount Park where heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier trained. Proceeds from the Boxers’ Trail 5K benefit Mander Playground in North Philadelphia, which organizes youth programs, including runs along the Boxers’ Trail. On-site registration is at 8:30am and the race begins at 9:30am.
Learn more and register in advance for the Boxers’ Trail 5K.
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Philadelphia Honey Festival |
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September 7-10 at Glen Foerd on the Delaware, Wyck Historic House, and Bartram’s Garden
What’s the buzz on the Philadelphia Honey Festival? This unique (free!) event raises awareness about the importance of honey bees and promotes urban beekeeping and gardening with special programs like open hive talks, honey extraction demonstrations, and bee beards. Join the fun at a historic venue near you: on Thursday, September 7 at Glen Foerd on the Delaware; Saturday, September 9 at Wyck Historic House; and Sunday, September 10 at Bartram’s Garden.
Learn more about the Philadelphia Honey Festival.
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Parkway 100 Kickoff |
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September 8 at Parkway Museums District
Philadelphia’s grand cultural boulevard, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, is turning 100 this year – and in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the Parkway Council (a group of cultural and educational institutions, businesses, and residences in the Parkway Museums District) has planned more than a year of activities to celebrate! The centennial fun kicks off on Friday, September 8 from 4-10pm with the We Are Connected Festival: an open house with 100 family-friendly activities on and around the Parkway, including extended hours and free/pay-what-you-wish museum admission.
Check out the full calendar of Parkway 100 events.
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Philly Fun Fishing Fest |
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September 9 at Schuylkill Banks by Walnut Street
Enjoy a morning of free catch-and-release fishing and friendly competition on the Schuylkill Banks! The Fishing Fest is perfect for anglers of all ages and levels of experience. No fishing license is required during the fishing competition, and fishing gear will be available for loan on a first-come, first-served basis.
Register for the Philly Fun Fishing Fest by September 7.
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Cai Guo-Qiang’s Fireflies on the Parkway |
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Photo credit: Jeff Fusco Photography |
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September 15-October 8 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
From September 15 through October 8, a new public art project lights up the Parkway: internationally renowned artist Cai Guo-Qiang’s Fireflies! Commissioned by the Association for Public Art with Fung Collaboratives for the Parkway’s centennial, 27 customized pedicabs adorned with hundreds of luminous colorful lanterns will glide along the Parkway at night, drawing on memories of the traditional lantern festivals of the artist’s childhood. Take a ride September 15 through October 8, Thursdays through Sundays, from 6-10pm.
Learn more about Cai Guo-Qiang’s Fireflies and how you can experience this public artwork.
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Monument Lab |
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September 16-November 19, citywide
Monument Lab is a public art and history project produced by Mural Arts Philadelphia, in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation. The project, taking place over nine weeks between September 16 and November 19, invites people to join a citywide conversation about history, memory, and our collective future, centered on the question: what is an appropriate monument for the current city of Philadelphia? Temporary monuments conceived by over 20 international artists will appear in public spaces across the city, accompanied by interactive pop-up “laboratories” for civic dialogue, research, and engagement. Locations include the city’s five original public squares plus five neighborhood parks.
Learn more about Monument Lab.
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“Best of Philly” Winner Dell Music Center Hosts Make the World Better Benefit |
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September 21, Dell Music Center
With recent facility improvements and a packed calendar of great events, it’s no surprise that the Dell Music Center was picked as a “Best of Philly” winner for Best Music Venue! One of those great events: the Make the World Better (MTWB) Foundation’s Annual Benefit Concert, featuring The War on Drugs. Founded by former Eagle Connor Barwin, MTWB works to improve communities, one park and one neighborhood at a time; funds raised from the concert will go to support new park projects.
Get tickets for MTWB Foundation’s Annual Benefit Concert and check out the Dell’s full calendar of concerts and events.
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THE GLOW: A Jack O’Lantern Experience |
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October 6-30 in West Fairmount Park
This October, THE GLOW lights up West Fairmount Park! THE GLOW: A Jack O’Lantern Experience will feature 5,000 hand-carved, illuminated pumpkins transformed into beautiful landscapes, iconic figures, and larger-than-life jack o’lantern structures. Stroll down Jack’s Lane, a 1/3-mile-long jack o’lantern trail, where you’ll experience everything from intricately detailed single pumpkin carvings to amazing scenes created by talented artists. Live carving demonstrations and fall food & beverages round out THE GLOW experience.
Learn more and get tickets to THE GLOW.
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Save the Date: LOVE Your Park Fall Service Day |
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November 4, citywide
Join us for the LOVE Your Park Fall Service Day on Saturday, November 4! We’re looking for 2,000+ volunteers to help us rake leaves, clean up trash and litter, and plant trees at 100 parks across Philadelphia. Starting October 4, you’ll be able to sign up to volunteer as a group, family, or individual at a Philly park near you. A full list of participating parks, projects, and volunteers will be available at loveyourpark.org.
Got LOVE Your Park questions? Check out our volunteer page for more information.
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Meet Me at the Park: Philly Pumptrack Update |
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If you’ve visited the Philly Pumptrack recently, you may have noticed some upgrades! Thanks to funding from Meet Me at the Park, the Pumptrack has received new security fencing and will soon be adding more loaner bikes, helmets, and soil tac to help maintain the tracks.
Learn more about Meet Me at the Park-funded improvements to the Philly Pumptrack, and check out the changes this Saturday, August 26, at the Bike Rodeo and Block Party (11am-3pm)!
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Clean PHL Launch |
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On August 7, Mayor Jim Kenney unveiled the Zero Waste and Litter Action Plan, developed with the goal of reaching zero waste by 2035, eliminating the use of landfills and conventional incinerators. Philadelphia residents, visitors, and businesses are invited to join the effort by checking out the Clean PHL website, which features a “litter index” showing conditions on streets, parks and recreation sites, public schools, and more. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation is proud to be a partner in this effort to make our city cleaner and safer!
Learn more about Clean PHL.
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Rebuild Updates |
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Rebuilding Community Infrastructure (Rebuild) is a $500 million program to revitalize Philadelphia’s neighborhood parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, and libraries. Rebuild moves ahead this month with the release of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for nonprofit partners to manage improvements at parks, recreation centers, and libraries citywide! These organizations will serve as “Project Users,” shepherding Rebuild projects from community engagement to design and construction. Qualification statements must be submitted by Friday, September 29 at 5pm.
Learn more about the RFQ for Rebuild project users, and keep an eye out for additional opportunities to get involved.
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Summer Fun Recap
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Summer is coming to an end all too soon! We’re already looking forward to a new season with exciting programs and events, but before we jump ahead to apple pressing and Halloween festivities, let’s look back at all of the summer fun we had at Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR)…
Parks on Tap & The Oval+
Two of PPR’s newer initiatives, Parks on Tap and The Oval+, bring programming and amenities to public spaces across the city. As we end another great summer at The Oval+ and enter the final weeks of the traveling Parks on Tap, check out the music, movies, wellness classes, beer gardens, and more that make these must-visit summertime spots!
Learn more about Parks on Tap and The Oval+.
Summer Camps
At our neighborhood day camps and specialty camp programs, kids enjoyed activities like arts & crafts and swimming, plus day trips to fun and educational destinations citywide: check out photos from a selection of our summer camps! Special congrats to Kendrick Recreation Center for winning our Summer Camp T-Shirt contest (photo above left). Campers celebrated their win with an end-of-camp party featuring DJ Patty-Pat, pretzels, and water ice.
In addition to attending camps at our parks and recreation centers, 200 kids had the chance to experience the great outdoors at Camp Philly (photo above right). Campers were excited to learn skills like archery and canoeing, make new friends, and explore the Poconos-based camp.
Play Philly Summer Challenge
On August 9, 1300+ campers from 28 recreation centers citywide ran, climbed, swung, jumped, slid, and danced their way through the Play Philly Summer Challenge. Play Philly encourages kids to participate in 60 minutes of active play each day: at participating camps, Play Philly staff planned special programming and activities to ensure campers met that goal and improved their health. After seeing those campers race through a mile-long obstacle course in the Summer Challenge, we have a feeling these kids will have no trouble keeping up that commitment to physical activity all year long!
Pool Season
As of Friday, August 25, all of our pools will be closed for the season… and what a season it’s been! At Marian Anderson Pool, community members came together to bring exciting improvements to their facility. Swim meets at pools citywide brought kids together for friendly competition; check out a couple of their stories in our Neighborhood News section below.
Thanks to our lifeguards and all of the staff who worked hard to make our pools fun, safe spots to take a swim this summer!
Movie Nights
Our summer series, Movies in the Park, has brought family-favorite flicks to parks across the city this summer – and we’re still screening movies through October 20! In addition to turning parks into free outdoor movie theaters, movie nights have featured refreshments and pre-show entertainment: from water ice scooped by local police officers, to appearances by Moana herself.
Check out the schedule of our remaining movie nights.
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Fire Prevention Play Recap |
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Seven groups of kids from Philadelphia Parks & Recreation summer camps put on educational and entertaining fire safety performances at the annual Fire Prevention Drama Contest. With the theme of "check your wires, prevent fires" in mind, kids got creative with singing, acting, and dancing on stage. Spiderman, Snow White, the Nutcracker, and other characters showed the audience how to stay safe, with prevention tips and other fire safety rules like "stop, drop, cover, and rock."
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Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s Summer WorkReady Closing Ceremony |
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Over 200 youth attended Philadelphia Parks & Recreation's (PPR) Summer WorkReady closing ceremony, held on August 10 at the Venice Island Performing Arts Center. Staff and funders associated with the Philadelphia Youth Network and PPR also came to hear about the youth summer project, "The Charity Challenge,” which raised more than $16,660.41 for local nonprofits.
Learn more about this summer’s Charity Challenge.
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Recent Ribbon Cuttings |
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This past month, we cut the ribbon on a few new and improved facilities! Stop by soon to play tennis, take a stroll, or shoot some hoops with us at:
- Penrose Recreation Center, home to new tennis courts for community use and Down the Line and Beyond programming;
- Pennypack Park trail bridge, spanning Pennypack Creek and connecting Little City parking lots to the Ed Kelly Amphitheater;
- Smith Playground, where new basketball and handball courts have been created, in partnership with Make the World Better Foundation.
Learn more about our recent ribbon cuttings.
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Staff Profile: Roger Tenant, Jr. |
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When your job entails supervising multiple ongoing projects that loop in state agencies, city departments, and contractors in parks citywide, communication is key – and Park Manager 2 Roger Tenant, Jr., is an excellent communicator. If you’ve visited Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s Center City offices, you’ve probably seen Roger roaming the floor, catching up with folks in other divisions and sharing the latest scoop on all things PPR. (You may have also seen his photos from the field if you follow us on social media!)
Read up on Roger and his role at PPR.
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FarmPhilly Updates |
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Farm Philly, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation’s urban agriculture program, supports the creation and maintenance of community and youth gardens on PPR land. Program Manager Elisa Ruse-Esposito shares a few updates from the field:
- On August 10, the Philadelphia Master Gardeners had their summer party at the South Philadelphia Older Adult Center (photo above). They have beautifully designed and maintained an award-winning perennial garden in front of the center for many years (photo below).
- At Lonnie Young Recreation Center, Junior Farmers became Junior Chefs: summer campers turned the basil they grew in their garden into delicious pesto!
- On August 5, the Youth Growers Market at Rittenhouse Square brought together young farmers from across the city. They sold their harvests, spread the word about their farms, and got to meet and learn from one another.
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Philadelphia Parks & Playgrounds: Neighborhood News |
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With Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR) programs, events, and activities going on in every corner of the city, it can be hard to keep up with all of the fun! Check out our “Neighborhood News” round-up for a sampling of stories from sites near you.
Northeast Philly
- Photo above: On July 10, Gifford Summer Day Camp held its second annual “Support Our Police Day” at the playground.
- Lincoln Pool hosted the District One swim meet on July 20, attended by teams from across the Northeast.
- After a game against the North Philly Playaz at Ramp Playground, Crispin Gardens’ 17 & under team are this summer’s PPR baseball champs!
North Philly
- Photo above: Seasonal Maintenance Attendant Willi Verez notes that in his decade of working at Collazo Playground, he has “never seen so many people using the park.” As many as 200 people visit each weekend to play handball, with folks coming all the way from New York to enjoy Collazo with their families in Philly.
- Feltonville Recreation Center will be receiving a new mural this fall, with support from Lensfest Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia.
- Lifeguarding is a family affair for the Bests, who help keep Penrose Pool (and other aquatic sites in North Philly) clean, safe, and fun!
- Summer is almost over, and Simpson Recreation Center is excited about the progress of their garden!
Northwest Philly
- Photo above: Gustine Recreation Center’s summer campers recently visited Inn Yard Park and snapped a few photos to share.
- Jerome Brown Playground recently unveiled a newly donated mini computer lab!
- On July 28, Kendrick Recreation Center hosted a Field Day for the day camps of the surrounding rec centers and playgrounds.
Fairmount Park
- Photo above: Campers at Lloyd Hall’s Summer Rowing Camp enjoyed plenty of activities and adventures… on the Schuylkill and off!
- Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Maria Ortiz-Rodriguez and officers from the 19th Police District stopped by Summer Art Camp at Parkside Evans on August 9.
South Philly
- Since October 2016, East Passyunk Community Recreation Center has been a part of the fledgling Plants Make Positive Places (P3) program, growing native Pennsylvania plants.
- The Philadelphia Phillies Junior RBI team (including players from Marian Anderson Recreation Center) captured the 25th Annual RBI World Series, with a stunning 8-6 victory over a very talented Chicago White Sox RBI team.
- Photo above left: Alan Hernandez from Ridgway Pool and Lifeguard Derrick Speas commemorate Alan’s first silver medal win at the District 7 swim meet.
- Photo above right: Starr Garden staff share their favorite summer memories, including a pie in the face, Clementon Park visit, and a visit from a juggler!
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