By: Doryán De Angel, Community Watershed Leader (Philadelphia)
TTF hosted another eventful series of Summer Block Parties on July 16, 17, and 23. This year, our theme was “Celebrate YOUR Park! Discover YOUR Creek!” and events took place at three Tacony Creek Park gateways: Whitaker and Loudon; Rorer and Roosevelt Blvd; and I St and Ramona. We were joined by over 600 families and people of all ages who engaged in fun, environmental education activities, accessed valuable community informational resources, and learned about the beautiful watershed park just down the street!
Friends and neighbors indulged in free water ice; free, tasty arepas from Delicias food truck; giveaways such as reusable bags and t-shirts; and free recycling bins provided by SWEEP from the Philadelphia Streets Department.
Families strolled through the park with Audubon Society bird expert Keith Russell, who provided nature walks down into the trails. Children crafted fun buttons to wear, painted colorful pictures on the trail with chalk, and eagerly interacted with “touch tables” from the Academy of Natural Sciences where they learned about dinosaur fossils; live insects and invertebrates; and live animals including “Chickpea” the Hedgehog, “Sienna” the American Kestrel, “Athena” the Burrowing Owl, “Eduarda” the Eastern Box Turtle, and lastly, a “Solomon Island Skink” lizard. They also learned about our watershed by interacting with an enviroscape!
These block parties gave us an opportunity to hear from Tacony Creek Park neighbors about the type of programs they’d like to see in their park. We also met a number of folks who expressed interest in working with us to make their park better. We look forward to working with them in the near future!
See more pictures from our block parties here.
On behalf of TTF, we want to thank all of our wonderful sponsors, partners and participating organizations who helped make this event a great success:
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and Pennsylvania Audubon Society
Clean Water Action and Fairmount Park Conservancy
Hope Zone Community Center and Keep Philadelphia Beautiful
Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and Philadelphia Water Department
Dottie Baumgarten, Sustainable Choices
Rafael Álvarez, Community Relations Liaison for Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez
Public Health Management Corporation
SWEEP – Philadelphia Streets Department and Simple Cycle
Southwest Cooking Grease Recycling and Bicycle Coalition
BuildaBridge and Juniata Action Committee
Latinas in Motion and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.
We would also like to thank: the “Park Bandits” Crew from PowerCorpsPHL, for assisting in distributing 2500 promotional door hangers to the homes around the Tacony Creek Park Gateways and The Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory, for helping us with preparations and materials for the event, as well as assisting us on the day of our block party.
Special thanks to our community volunteers: Reinaldo, Jonathan, Deztiny, Cleo and James, for being there and lending a hand; and finally, our staff and interns, for all your support and efforts.
Lastly, a special thanks to Delicias food truck, for providing fresh, warm arepas and Tina Willis, Community Relations Officer from Philadelphia Police Department’s 24th District, for your positive input and for taking part in the event.
Last but not least, thanks to neighbors of Tacony Creek Park! Stay in touch for information about upcoming programs. Don’t hesitate to contact Robin or Doryan at 215.744.1853.
