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West Philly Runners sponsoring Cobbs Creek Park race for kids (updated)

April 13, 2012

Click to enlarge.

West Philly Runners are sponsoring and participating in the annual Cobbs Creek Park race on Saturday, April 21 (see flyer below). This is the official West Philly Runners race, but everyone is invited to join them. This event will also feature a 1 mile walk – a great opportunity for families to get out and explore the park. Click here to register.

Registration fee is $20 and all funds raised from this event will go to benefit kids’ recreational activities in the Cobbs Creek Park. But there’s more to it. Alon Abramson, who organizes West Philly Runners, sent us this information:

“Philly Parks and Rec, the Fairmount Park Conservancy and PA Environmental Council are putting on the ‘Run for the Kids of Cobbs 5K’ race for the 2nd year. The goal of the race is first and foremost to bring people back to the park and encourage some ownership of this shared space. Cobbs Creek sat forgotten and abandoned for years and the city is making a concerted effort to reverse this trend. If you’ve been to the park recently, you will be pleasantly surprised to find it well utilized by the community with picnic areas, and paved and unpaved recreational trails (it is absolutely beautiful). Proceeds from the race go towards outdoor recreational programs for kids in the area. Get people to come to the park and support kids programming…win-win, right?

I am the organizer for West Philly Runners, a local running group, now in our 2nd year. We have been growing alongside this initiative and we have been heavily involved in planning the event from the start. In fact, I created the race website this year (www.cobbscreek5k.com), I am working on promotion and I have been involved in trail work in preparation for the race, which is mostly a trail run. For us, it is THE race of West Philly and thus THE race of the West Philly Runners. I’d love to get the word out to the West Philly community so that runners (and walkers) take advantage of this opportunity to (re)discover this amazing park in our back yards.”

If you have questions about the race or West Philly Runners, you can email Alon at alon.abramson [at] gmail.com

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Zora plays and we all get a lesson on West Philly playgrounds

April 4, 2012

playground

West Philly resident Michael Froehlich and his 2-year-old daughter Zora love playgrounds. No wait, they really love playgrounds.

What began as the occasional bicycle excursion from their home on 48th Street to nearby playgrounds like Malcolm X. Park has turned into a full-on quest to document a bunch of playgrounds in this part of the city – 31 playgrounds in all.

“We went a little overboard,” said Froehlich, a legal aid attorney.

The result, the website zoraplays, is an invaluable guide to playgrounds that includes photos of equipment, sketches of the playground’s layout and a map showing the location. Each playground was within a mile of their home.

Froehlich said he and Zora’s goal is to help convince people that there is fun beyond the usual spots like Clark Park and Cedar Park.

“I hope that this project will show people that there are a lot of great playgrounds in our community so they should get on their bicycles and ride out and explore them,” he said.

The big question, of course, is which is Zora’s fav?

“I’d like to say that Zora has developed a discerning eye for quality playgrounds,” said Froehlich. “But the truth is that she loves all playgrounds. Tall slides, wide slides, single slides, double slides: she digs them all with the same gusto.”

As for Froehlich himself? “Malcolm X. Park,” he said. “There’s so much there.”

playground
A map of the Christy Recreation Center playground at 56th and Christian from zoraplays.com. (click to enlarge)

 
– Emma Eisenberg contributed to this story

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Vandalized Cedar Park needs help

September 28, 2011

Cedar Park vandalized
A bare spot where Cedar Park plants used to be. (Photo courtesy of Cedarparkneighbors.org)

Tipped by one of our readers we learned that our beautiful Cedar Park has been vandalized. It happened earlier this week. As the Cedar Park Neighbors website reports, “someone callously and deliberately tore out more than a dozen plants and native grasses that surrounded the memorial and traffic triangle garden on the eastern side of Cedar Park.”

As a result, the park lost its collection of coneflowers, autumn joy sedum, black-eyed susans, and day lillies. Sadly, the work of so many neighbors was destroyed. The Cedar Park Neighbors Association is determined to fix the damaged portions of the park and to replace the stolen or destroyed plants as quickly as possible. But for that, they need to raise several hundred dollars and are asking for help.

To see more pictures of the damage and to donate please go to this page.

 

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Cedar Park to mark 100th Anniversary with Centennial Fair and Parade

August 4, 2011

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This Saturday, August 6, Cedar Park (50th and Baltimore) is turning 100 years old and neighbors are invited to celebrate at the Centennial Fair.

There will be live music, vendors, children’s activities and even a parade. Here’s the full schedule of events and activities.

Activities
1 p.m. – Cedar Park Scholarship Presentation
1:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. – Children’s Activities including ring toss, potato sack race, moonbounce, face painting and games – 1:15-4:00 p.m.
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. – Terrarium Make and Take Activity – 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Entertainment
Noon – DJ Jamar starts
1:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. – Rosemary Fiki Band
1:50 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Gretchen Elise
2:40 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. – Independent Rock School

The parade will take place at 4:30-5 p.m. Neighbors (and pets) of all ages are welcome to strut their stuff. Drums, fancy hats and parade attire are highly recommended.

Lastly, the final Cedar Park jazz concert of the season will run from 6-8 p.m.

While at the fair don’t forget to pick up a copy of the Cedar Park Neighbors Anniversary Brochure which includes historical pictures and stories of the neighborhood through the years.

 

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The grass at Clark Park? Let’s talk

July 2, 2011

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Speaking of Clark Park … it is bound to see a lot of use this holiday weekend. Some rumbling has started about people and pets being on the grass, which is starting to turn a little beige. The Friends of Clark Park posted signs near each entrance to the park asking folks to “give the grass a chance” for “several weeks.” But just today we saw a couple of parties there and lots of loungers, kids, etc. having a good time on the new sod.

We were hoping to start a conversation about this here. What should the rules be about the new grass at Clark Park? Would you be offended if you were asked in person to stay off the grass?

If that topic doesn’t float your boat, maybe you could share your thoughts about the changes at the park. We heard someone this morning say that the tables and chairs give it a “Europeany plaza” feel. Is that good or bad?

Leave a comment below.

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A Day at Clark Park

July 2, 2011

clark park

We came across this brilliant short music video (a little over three minutes) starring our beloved Clark Park and you all and we had to get it on the site. Thanks to filmmaker Joshua Wann (aka Esso) for letting us post it. Check out more of his stuff at shotbyesso.tumblr.com. Enjoy.

A Day at Clark Park from shot by esso™ on Vimeo.

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